Park Slope Cyclist Killed by Delivery Truck

Pictured: The intersection of Sterling Place and 6th Avenue. Image via Google Maps

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A cyclist was killed Wednesday morning near the intersection of Sterling Place and 6th Avenue, police said.

Park Slope resident James Gregg, 33, was riding south on 6th at about 8 a.m. alongside a tractor trailer delivery truck also headed south on the street, according to the NYPD.

Gregg collided with the truck's rear wheel and was killed, police said. The truck's 47-year-old driver stayed at the location.

As first reported by DNAinfo, trucks are not permitted on 6th Avenue, according to a truck route map released in 2011 by the city's Department of Transportation (DOT).

A DOT spokesman confirmed Wednesday that 6th Avenue "is not a truck route and there is signage in the area alerting motorists as such."

At a Wednesday press conference, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said the truck would only have been allowed on the street with a special permit. He said he didn't know if such a pass had been issued.

The NYPD declined to answer that question Wednesday, as did the DOT.

"This life lost could have been prevented," Adams said. He added that his office will be following up with the DOT and the NYPD regarding the enforcement of truck-free lanes.

According to StreetsBlog, police on scene Wednesday said Gregg had been holding onto the truck before he was killed. However, the site added, "that also describes what a cyclist might do when passed by a large truck on a narrow street."

As of February 29, four cyclists had been killed in NYC, according to city data.

Gregg is the second Brooklyn cyclist killed by a vehicle in the last two weeks. Lauren Davis, a 34-year-old who lived near Crown Heights, was killed in Fort Greene on April 15.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this post said James Gregg was killed in Prospect Heights. He was in fact killed in upper Park Slope, a couple blocks from the border with Prospect Heights.