NYPD Cracks Down on Trucks and Cyclists After Biker Killed in Bushwick

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — The NYPD is cracking down on illegal trucking and cycling following a June 7 crash that killed biker Leah Sylvain.

Over a 72-hour period following the crash, officers handed out 125 summonses to truckers and bikers at the intersection of Evergreen Avenue and Hart Street in Bushwick, where Sylvain was killed, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed Friday.

The summonses were first reported by DNAinfo.

Truckers were cited for driving outside of truck lanes, while bikers were given summonses for failing to provide the right of way to vehicles and pedestrians, the spokesperson said.

Asked if the NYPD was increasing enforcement elsewhere, the spokesperson said that, "a press release regarding city-wide traffic enforcement will be sent out in the next few days."

On June 7, Sylvain, a 27-year-old Connecticut native who lived and worked in Brooklyn, was biking north on Evergreen Avenue in the street's bike lane when a fuel truck headed in the same direction on the street suddenly turned left and struck her, police said.

Sylvain sustained head trauma, and was pronounced dead at Woodhull Hospital in upper Bed-Stuy, according to the NYPD.

Evergreen Avenue is not a legal truck route, according to Department of Transportation regulations.

The truck's driver, Brooklyn resident Joseph Cherry, 52, stayed on the scene, and was arrested and charged with failing to yield to a cyclist and failure to exercise due care.

According to the city's Vision Zero database, through Feb. 29, 352 cyclists had been injured on the city's roads, while 4 had been killed.

Top photo courtesy of Karen Neoh/Flickr