UPDATED | Is there no safe place to ride in this city?
A man on a bicycle was crushed and killed by a reckless SUV driver on Friday morning on a residential street in Staten Island that is known as both for its quiet, surburban quality and for its wide design that encourages speeding.
According to police, the victim in his 40s and still unidentified, was cycling on Wilson Avenue near Armstrong Avenue at around 10:17 a.m. when he was struck by the 35-year-old driver of a gray Infiniti SUV. The Staten Island Advance reported that the driver crushed the cyclist, then slammed into a parked car and a roadway sign before coming to a rest at a tree. [Update: The cyclist was later identified as James Giambalvo. A GoFundMe page has been set up for his widow.]
The damage on the car suggests a high rate of speed, though the NYPD declined to provide any additional details about the crash.
The cyclist suffered severe body trauma and was taken to Staten Island University Hospital where he died.
The woman who drove the SUV was not immediately charged, a police spokesman told Streetsblog.
Wilson Avenue runs parallel to the Staten Island railway line and, as such, is often a cut-through for drivers. Last year, there were 10 reported crashes on the roadway, injuring three pedestrians and two motorists, city records show.
