A cyclist was killed on Third Avenue on Christmas, marking the latest fatality on one of Brooklyn’s deadliest roadways.
Police claim 33-year-old Alejandro Santos was riding his e-bike near 24th Street just after midnight on Dec. 25 when he collided with a parked and unoccupied flatbed truck and landed in the roadway.
Santos was taken by medics to NYU Langone-Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead after sustaining trauma to the legs and various internal injuries.
Santos is the second cyclist to die on Third Avenue in 2020. On Oct. 3, nurse Clara Kang was killed while biking home from a late shift at NYU Langone. In all, 26 cyclists have been killed citywide in 2020 — down just two deaths from 2019, despite stay-at-home orders and showboating from City Hall about a record number of protected bike lane installations. For the second straight year, the city saw more than 20 cyclist fatalities as more New Yorkers have taken to two wheels, and the city’s infrastructure has failed to keep up with the demand.
In 2019, there were three traffic-related fatalities on Third Avenue, which spurred the Department of Transportation to speed up construction of the nearby Fourth Avenue protected bike lane.
Construction has since started on a Third Avenue stretch of the Brooklyn Greenway bike path starting from Hamilton Avenue, but it will only go as far as 18th Street, leaving the vast majority of the deadly roadway unprotected indefinitely.
‘How many more people have to die on Third Avenue?’” Community Board 7 Chairman César Zúñiga asked at an Oct. 6 vigil for Kang, at which local leaders said they were tired of waiting for improvements.
“We’re done with the planning, we’re done with the studies, we need action,” said Sunset Park Councilman Carlos Menchaca. “The city agencies really need to focus on Third Avenue.”
