SUV driver struck Greenpoint e-bike rider, 73, who later died
A driver in a southbound SUV hit e-bike rider Teddy Orzechowski at Monitor Street and Driggs Avenue in Brooklyn on May 12, 2023; the official record lists one cyclist killed, and reports said Orzechowski died nearly three weeks later.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
On May 12, 2023, a 62-year-old man driving south on Monitor Street hit Teddy Orzechowski as he rode an e-bike west on Driggs Avenue, the Daily News reported. The official record gives the collision time as 4:20 p.m.; the newspaper reported about 4:22 p.m. The record classifies the motor vehicle as a station wagon/SUV, while the newspaper identified a 2017 Infiniti QX6 SUV. The record lists one cyclist killed and no injuries. The Daily News reported that medics took Orzechowski to Elmhurst Hospital Center and that he died 19 days after the crash; Streetsblog also reported that he died in a hospital nearly three weeks later. The Daily News said the driver remained at the scene and no charges had been filed as of its June 2 report.
The crash happened at the crossing.
The Daily News reported that a 62-year-old man driving south on Monitor Street hit Orzechowski as he rode an e-bike west on Driggs Avenue. It identified the motor vehicle as a 2017 Infiniti QX6 SUV; the official record classifies it as a station wagon/SUV and also lists southbound and westbound travel for the two vehicles.
The official record dates the collision to May 12, 2023, at 4:20 p.m.; the Daily News reported that it happened at about 4:22 p.m. The record counts one cyclist killed and no injuries.
Orzechowski died after hospitalization.
Teddy Orzechowski, 73, was a Bayside resident. The Daily News reported that medics took him to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was initially listed in stable condition, and that he died 19 days after the collision. Streetsblog also reported that he died in a hospital nearly three weeks later.
Neighbors had pressed for safer street designs.
Streetsblog placed the intersection in Greenpoint between P.S. 110 and McGolrick Park. The article reported that local parents and advocates had sought a bike lane on Driggs Avenue and a play street outside the school; after some residents protested the play-street proposal, school leadership withdrew its request to the Department of Transportation, according to Streetsblog.
An Open Street previously ran on Driggs Avenue between Monitor Street and Meeker Avenue. Streetsblog reported that vandalism and the removal of barricades effectively ended the program. Noel Hidalgo, a local open-streets coalition co-founder who witnessed the collision's aftermath, said, "This death was preventable."
The driver remained at the scene.
The Daily News reported that the driver was uninjured and stayed at the scene. As of the newspaper's June 2 report, no charges had been filed and the investigation remained ongoing.