A driver in a BMW fatally struck a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor in Brooklyn.
A bakery in Brooklyn
A driver in a 2020 BMW X5 struck 99-year-old Jack Mikulincer as he traveled north in an electric wheelchair at Oriental Boulevard and Coleridge Street in Brooklyn; the official record places the crash at 4:46 p.m. on February 5, 2022, and records one pedestrian fatality.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police told NY1 that a 52-year-old driver in a 2020 BMW X5 was heading west on Oriental Boulevard when he struck Mikulincer, who was traveling north on Coleridge Street. Reports described Mikulincer's mobility device differently: NY1 called it an electric wheelchair, while the New York Post described a motorized mobility scooter. Police said the driver stayed at the scene and had not been charged at the time of the reports.
A westbound driver struck him as he crossed.
NY1 reported that a driver traveling west on Oriental Boulevard struck Mikulincer as he traveled north on Coleridge Street. NY1 described his mobility device as an electric wheelchair; the New York Post called it a motorized mobility scooter.
Reports identified a BMW X5 and its driver.
NY1 reported that a 52-year-old man was driving a westbound 2020 BMW X5. The official crash record classifies the vehicle as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle. 1010 WINS identified the driver as Pytor Yadgarov and described him as a real estate developer.
Nearby pedestrian crossings were limited.
The crash happened at Oriental Boulevard and Coleridge Street in Manhattan Beach, less than a block from Mikulincer's home, amNewYork reported. The outlet said there was no crosswalk in his direction of travel and no north-south pedestrian crossing for three blocks in either direction along the boulevard.
Family and friends recalled his life and work.
NY1 reported that Mikulincer's daughter, Aviva Tucker, described him as a Holocaust survivor, grandfather and great-grandfather, longtime bakery owner and avid painter. She said he owned a bakery on Brighton 2nd Street for years. His friend Jehuda Lindenblatt said they were on their way to synagogue together that afternoon.
Tucker remembered her father as “a very kind, gentle soul,” NY1 reported. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Mikulincer was born in Uzhhorod in 1923, escaped a forced labor battalion and served with resistance groups during World War II, then fought in Israel's War of Independence before moving to Brooklyn.
Police said the driver stayed at the scene.
Police told NY1 and the New York Post that Mikulincer was pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital. NY1 separately quoted Lindenblatt saying, “he died instantly, the doctor told me, in the hospital on Coney Island.” These accounts do not establish a more precise time of death. Police said the driver had not been charged when the reports were published.