66-Year-Old Man Struck and Killed in Bay Ridge

BAY RIDGE —  Yesterday evening, a car struck a pedestrian on 4th Avenue at 101 Street in Bay Ridge.

On Thursday, March 5, just after 7 p.m., a 2011 Mercedes-Benz 350 sedan, operated by a 19-year-old man, was traveling southbound in the right lane of 4th Avenue, approaching the intersection of 101st Street, while 66-year-old Frank Decolvenaere was crossing 4th Avenue at 101 Street, from east to west, in the north marked crosswalk, against the pedestrian traffic signal, police said, when the car struck him and came to a rest.

Decolvenaere, who lived just blocks away, was lying on the roadway, unconscious and unresponsive, with severe head trauma. EMS responded to the location and pronounced him dead at the scene.

“I am deeply shaken by the death of a pedestrian who was walking his dog in a crosswalk on 4th Ave & 101st St in Bay Ridge. He was killed by a speeding driver,” State Senator Andrew Gounardes said in a statement. “When are we going to WAKE UP, SLOW DOWN, and realize that we are literally killing each other to save a few minutes?”

Last week Gounardes, representing the 22nd district, wants the state to create a database that rates cars on how safe they are for people outside of them.

There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.

UPDATE with statement from Senator.