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Early Addition
Yesterday afternoon, a campaign bus for City Council hopeful Michael Ricatto fatally struck a 9-year-old boy in Queens, prompting Ricatto to suspend his campaign. Ibrihim Ahmed, a fourth-grader, was crossing at Cross Bay Boulevard and Liberty Avenue, an intersection many witnesses call dangerous (some kids said there should be a crossing guard), in the crosswalk when he was hit. The Post reports, "One witness to the accident said it looked like the vehicle sped up to make a light 'and smacked into the kid' at the busy intersection." The Ricatto campaign RV's driver Alexander Aponte was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Ricatto, who was running for Joseph Addabbo's seat, issued a statement: "My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the child whose life was taken in this tragic accident. I have children of my own and can't imagine the pain of losing a child in an accident like the one that occurred today. "
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The driver had a suspended license and sped to make a light? Stick a fork in Ricatto, he's so done.
Yikes! Like politicians don't do enough damage without literally killing people!
I am trying to understand why an 8-year old was crossing Cross Bay Blvd, which is basically a north-south version of Queens Blvd, with another friend his age instead of with an adult.
brilliant, blame the kid.
this is new york, kids walk to & from school on their own. in fact, some of them take the bus & the subway, UNSUPERVISED! shocking isn't it?
it's almost like you aren't in indiana anymore.
Yeah, the nerve of the child to actually walk on pavement.
Idiot.
I think that Queens is trying to bring to our attention the fact that a child should be, in an ideal world anyway, escorted across the street. I believe that Queens is just calling out parents/adults to do what we are all responsible for. I have to agree. This could have been prevented. My mom and neighbors never, ever, let me or my little friends cross our busy main street alone.
QueensCrapper is always cranky. It's his M.O.
I can't think of a surer way to mess up your campaign than to have a driver with a suspended license kill a child with your campaign vehicle. I wonder if that vehicle is paid for with public matching funds from the city.
Wow. So does the suspended license turn an unfortunate accident into manslaughter?
Clearly that politician would do anything to gain traction in the polls.
A proper comprehension of Queenscrapper's comment does not at all reveal he is blaming the 9-year old or is being cranky. Nor does he/she say the child is walking on the 'pavement', as one commenter here invents.
Queenscrapper - and many other of us native NYers - cannot understand why a parent would let a child cross a multi-lane thoroughfare unattended. The responsible parents walk their children of that age to school. Furthermore, the car had right-of-way and the poor child was jaywalking.
Apparently even the local kids had more sense that some of the irresposible commenters here: "Kids who came upon the accident said this intersection is known to be a dangerous one and that their parents have warned them about crossing it."
Sounds like irresponsible parenting.
"Sounds like irresponsible parenting"
yes, irresponsible parenting led to Alexander Aponte driving with a suspended license & speeding up at a yellow light in a school zone at 3:40pm.
Stop inventing fiction. Nowhere do the news report claim the driver was speeding. The local school children even think there should be a crossing guard there.
One more time: since it is a dangerous highway, without proper adult supervision, the child's parents or suitabale guardian should have been there to assist, like any responsible parent would do. If they had been present to supervise, Ibrahim would be alive.
Maybe you missed this line in the news report: "One witness to the accident said it looked like the vehicle sped up to make a light "and smacked into the kid" at the busy intersection."
And no, the vehicle doesn't have the 'right of way' even if the light is "his." Pedestrians always have the right of way.
Ultimately, this sounds like a terrible accident by a driver who, given his suspended license, may not excel in the best judgement when it comes to driving.
Try having a bit of compassion for the parents who lost their child, and not being so obtuse as to blame it on "irresponsible parenting."
"Pedestrians always have the right of way."
Really? Since when has jaywalking been legalized?
Sorry, any parent who lets a nine-year old cross a major thoroughfare without supervision is an irresponsible parent, whether it fits your agenda or not.
Agenda? You obviously don't have children, so you should probably stop passing judgement on others who do, as it really makes you sound like an insensitive dolt, which maybe you are.
Tsk, tsk. Getting a bit flummoxed. are we? Why am I not surprised?
Besides devoid of accuracy, your comments are full of arrogant presumptuousness, and typical of someone who, when losing the premise, resorts to childish name calling.
Teach your children well, my friend, and don't worry about mine.
Just stating "thefacts", my friend.
Yeah, stating 'facts'like:
- the driver was speeding when there is absolutely no evidence,
- the child was walking on the pavement when he got hit and not in the busy intersection,
- jaywalking is legal,
- the familial status of strangers you do not know.
LOL
and it's clear that you:
- didn't read the news witness account
- don't have a grasp of sarcasm
- believe its ok to run down 9-year old pedestrians if they're "jaywalking"
- don't know what its like to raise children
But hey, that's ok. Let's blame the parents! Yep, it's their fault that their kid is dead. Hopefully they have another one so they can teach that one better the next time.
It's "clear". Clear to someone with poor reading comprehension skills and a knack for inventing things to suit an agenda.
This Ricatto clown really knows how to vet the people working for him.
I see people blowing through red lights all the time and the stupid traffic cops stand by and do absolutely nothing while SUVs and even city busses plow through pedestrians on the cross walk.
The city really needs to crack down on running red lights.
The boy was in a CROSSWALK. Pedestrians legally have the right of way in a crosswalk.
The driver, Alexander Aponte, was driving in spite of having a suspended license. Clearly he couldn't have cared less about driving safely.
Michael Ricatto is also culpable because he (or one of his staff) was either too stupid or lazy to make sure Aponte had a valid license.
Thank you, "thefacts" for understanding what I was trying to say. The child crossed the street while the light was green for cars. The driver, who should not have been behind the wheel to begin with, "may have" sped up to get through the intersection before the light turned red and in his haste hit the child. I posted this story on my site, and definitely did not blame the child, because the driver has the responsibility to stop. However, clearly either the child was not taught how to cross the street safely, or he disregarded what he learned. In either event, he should not have been crossing the street unsupervised.
My pleasure, Queenscrap. It is clearly evident to most of the Gothamist readers what you were suggesting.
Yes, the boy crossed the street while the light was green. However, he was also in a crosswalk and drivers are required BY LAW to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.
Having said that, I've noticed that very few drivers in NYC will stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Just having the right of way will not protect you against a reckless driver. If the intersection is as dangerous as claimed, perhaps the community needs to demand the installation of a traffic light.
"1. Traffic, except pedestrians, facing a steady circular yellow signal may enter the intersection; however, said traffic is thereby warned that the related green movement is being terminated or that a red indication will be exhibited immediately thereafter."
JustSaying: The actual law does not support your unsubstantiated claim. This germane cite above is from the NYS Motor Vehicle Law, Article 24, Section 1111. If you can provide a similar cite that supports your claim, it would be appreciated.
There was a traffic light at the accident site. btw, allegedly yellow, perhaps green, and it gave the driver the right-of-way.
This is from the DOT, Article 4, Section 4.04
ยง4-04 Pedestrians
(a) Pedestrians subject to traffic rules
(b) Right of way in crosswalks
(1) Operators to yield to pedestrians in crosswalk
(2) Pedestrians shall not cross in front of oncoming vehicles
You are being intellectually dishonest, my friend.
Yes: "Operators to yield to pedestrians in crosswalk"
But you failed to include what immediately follows:
"...when traffic control signals are not not in place or not in operation."
That is CLEARLY not the case here, as you have commented above regarding a green light.
Shame on you.