Carnage

UPDATE: Cops Arrest Driver Who Killed Pedestrian in Sheepshead Bay

Another killer driver is caught — though the charges remain minor.

By Gersh Kuntzman

11:06 AM EDT on March 23, 2019

UPDATE: Cops Arrest Driver Who Killed Pedestrian in Sheepshead Bay

This headline is no longer accurate, thanks to belated work by the NYPD.

Police have arrested the driver who they say mowed down a Brooklyn pedestrian in January

Richard Goldblatt, 58, was charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care for hitting Gail Ackerman, 77, as she crossed the busy commercial section of Avenue U at E. 29th Street. Ackerman had been in the crosswalk and had the light as Goldblatt piloted his 2016 Nissan SUV into her as he turned left onto Avenue U from the side street, cops said.

Goldblatt had remained on the scene of the Jan. 20 crash, and was not initially charged, though Streetsblog called for action, given that the initial police report suggested that he did not yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and, by killing her, failed to exercise due care. The charges could result in a maximum of 30 days in jail for taking Ackerman’s life.

Police offered few other details about Goldblatt’s arrest.

Seven pedestrians and cyclists have been injured on the six blocks of Avenue U between Nostrand and Bedford avenues, a busy commercial stretch that lacks any safety upgrades. To put the larger carnage on our streets in a broader perspective, there were 3,980 reported crashes in the tiny 46th Council District in Sheepshead Bay and Marine Park last year, resulting in injuries to 54 cyclists, 176 pedestrians and 1,292 motorists. Five pedestrians and one driver died.

The district averages 11 crashes per day.

Gersh Kuntzman

Tabloid legend Gersh Kuntzman has been with New York newspapers since 1989, including stints at the New York Daily News, the Post, the Brooklyn Paper and even a cup of coffee with the Times. He's also the writer and producer of "Murder at the Food Coop," which was a hit at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2016, and “SUV: The Musical” in 2007. He also writes the Cycle of Rage column, which is archived here.