Police sources told ABC 7 that the e-cyclist, identified as Borkot Ullah, was hit while attempting to cross East Houston — from Clinton to Avenue B — around 11 p.m.
The black Subaru Outback was traveling eastbound. The driver did not stop and was later seen heading northbound on the FDR, ABC 7 reports.
Streetsblog reports that Ullah would be the 14th cyclist or e-bike rider killed so far this year.
In previous years, EVG readers have expressed concerns about this intersection.
Updated 1 p.m.
Here's part of the coverage from Gothamist that highlights how dangerous the streets have become thanks to reckless drivers...
The deadly incidents come amid a spike in fatalities on New York City streets. At least 131 people have died in crashes so far this year, the highest total to-date since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014.City officials have attributed the growing death toll to a nationwide increase in reckless drivers, who took advantage of empty streets at the height of the pandemic, and have kept up the deadly habit.An increase in hit-and-run incidents, however, dates back to before the pandemic. According to Transportation Alternatives, there were 36,000 hit-and-run incidents in 2013, compared to an average of 45,000 in the last three years.
Updated 5 p.m.
Streetsblog has surveillance video of the collision.
A video from the scene showed clearly that the cyclist had the light and that the driver swerved around stopped traffic to run the red light and strike Ullah. After the crash, the driver is seen racing away at a high rate of speed as two cops in an unmarked police car — which was right behind the hit-and-run driver and might have been pursuing the driver before the crash — pulled over to check on the victim.
Streetsblog also has more about Ullah, who was a member of Desis Rising Up and Moving, an undocumented workers' rights group.
There is a GoFundMe campaign set up to help Borkot's family both here and in Bangladesh whom he supported financially through his food delivery work.
Top image via the Citizen app.
A memorial chalk out Sunday in honor of Hash Halper, aka New York Romantic
Halper, known as New York Romantic, was the artist who helped beautify streets by drawing chalk hearts on the sidewalks around the East Village and other parts of the city. He died on June 11. According to published reports, he took his own life by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. He was 41.
It was estimated that Halper drew over 300,000 chalk hearts in downtown NYC since 2014.
He told The New York Times in February 2018 that he draws the hearts "because he feels New York is losing its romance, with people holding phones instead of looking at each other."
Halper got his heart start in 2014 while working at Kossar's Bagels & Bialys on Grand Street. "The reason I started drawing hearts all over the city is because I fell in love with a woman."
Despite his desire to spread positivity, he harbored his own struggles, his family told The New York Times in an article published on July 4.
He was recently preparing for a solo exhibition of his work.
But, his family said, his paintings were destroyed during an altercation with someone who attacked him in his Lower East Side apartment. Rattled by the incident, he took to the streets and was seen two days later walking barefoot in SoHo.
"He didn't tell people that he was troubled because it was dissonant with his public persona," his brother Omkar Lewis said. "He was the heart guy, so he couldn't reveal his problems to the world, because he was the guy carrying other people's pain."
During Sunday's event, his family is also planning on raising awareness of mental health, homelessness and drug abuse.
If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
Details on the East Village Swap & Shop on Saturday
They are billing this as a double event. You can find vendors selling vintage clothes, homemade jewelry, etc., outside 26 First Ave. at Second Street. And across the Avenue at 89 E. Second St., there's a clothing swap.
Per the Instagram invite ... "How it works: bring clean, gently used clothing (women's or men's) you'd like to donate and take something in exchange from the swap table..."
Anything left from the swap will be donated to the House of Good Deeds.
Hours: noon to 6 p.m.
