Driver charged after deadly Gowanus red-light crash
A Sept. 14 crash officially attributed to unsafe speed killed 34-year-old driver Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero at Second Avenue and 9th Street in Gowanus, where police said Alexey Ivanov allegedly ran a red light before hitting Cordero’s Mercedes.
What We Know
At about 6:25 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2025, a crash at Second Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn killed 34-year-old driver Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero. Police told Brooklyn Paper that 38-year-old Alexey Ivanov was driving north on Second Avenue when he allegedly ran a red light and hit Cordero’s westbound 2006 Mercedes station wagon. The city crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor, and the vehicle record also lists traffic-control disregard for the Honda driver. Brooklyn Paper reported that Ivanov was arrested hours later on charges including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, speeding and disobeying a traffic-control device. The official record lists one person killed and two people injured; Brooklyn Paper reported four people injured and one killed.
Police described a red-light impact in Gowanus
Brooklyn Paper, citing police, reported that Alexey Ivanov was driving a Honda north on Second Avenue shortly before 6:30 p.m. when he allegedly ran a red light and hit a 2006 Mercedes station wagon headed west on 9th Street. Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero, the 34-year-old New Jersey resident driving the Mercedes, was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and later died.
The city crash record places the crash at 6:25 p.m. and records one motorist killed. It lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. Brooklyn Paper reported a broader injury count than the official record: four people injured and one killed, while the city record lists two people injured and one killed.
The people police and records identified
Brooklyn Paper identified the man who died as Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero, 34, a New Jersey resident and the driver of the Mercedes. The official person record also lists the person killed as a 34-year-old male driver.
The records and article describe the vehicles differently
The official vehicle record lists a 2016 Honda classified as a station wagon or sport-utility vehicle, a 2006 Mercedes classified the same way, and a 2007 Dodge pickup truck. Brooklyn Paper described the Honda as a minivan and the Mercedes as a station wagon.
The official record says the Honda was traveling north and going straight ahead, the Mercedes was traveling west and going straight ahead, and the Dodge pickup was stopped in traffic before the crash.
Unsafe speed and a disregarded signal are cited
The city crash record lists unsafe speed as the crash’s contributing factor. In the vehicle-level record for the Honda driver, the city also lists unsafe speed and traffic-control disregard.
Second Avenue and 9th Street sits on a heavily harmed corridor
The crash happened at Second Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn’s 11215 ZIP code. Brooklyn Paper described the location as Gowanus.
CrashCountNYC’s location context for 9th Street in Brooklyn shows 602 crashes, 322 injuries, 23 serious injuries and 2 deaths on the corridor since 2022. Brooklyn Paper also noted prior harm at the same intersection, including the 2023 death of cyclist Sarah Schick.
Firefighters worked at a violent scene, and police made an arrest
Brooklyn Paper reported that one of the cars went up in flames, citing News12, and that video showed firefighters working to free people trapped inside crumpled vehicles.
The article reported that Ivanov, a 64-year-old passenger and the Dodge pickup driver were stable the next day, while a 38-year-old woman remained in critical condition. Police said Ivanov was arrested hours after the crash.