Friday’s Headlines: East Flatbush Car Death Tragedy Edition

A 68-year-old woman is dead after a car driver struck her as she crossed the street — in the crosswalk, with the signal to walk — in East Flatbush on Wednesday, cops said.

Streetsblog intern Jonah Schwarz visited the intersection of Rutland Road and E. 95th Street in Brooklyn where the driver of a 2025 Mercedes Benz GLC 300 struck and killed Maurette Lafleur, of nearby E. 39th Street. Cops have not released the 64-year-old driver’s name.

Lorna Johnson, who owns Black Hair, a salon near the scene, told Schwarz she’s had trouble sleeping after witnessing the tragedy unfold on Wednesday.

“The lady spin around and sped through,” Johnson recalled. “I heard the van run over her and her bones crunching.”

“The government should do something, like when people are walking, no cars should be moving,” said the witness to the unspeakable horror.

The death of Maurette Lafleur comes as the NYPD is undertaking a massive enforcement effort against electric bikes even as the drivers of cars and trucks claim a disproportionate share of victims.

In other news:

• A 72-year-old man killed by a car driver in a hit-and-run in Brownsville on Saturday was headed to a family cookout, the Daily News reported.
• New Jersey Transit’s locomotive engineers went on strike at midnight on Friday. Read WNYC’s Clayton Guse on how the system went from bad to abysmal on congestion pricing foe Gov. Phil Murphy’s watch.
• Read more about the strike from the Post, the Daily News, the Times, CBS New York and the Bergen Record.
• Forget Newark Airport, Sean Duffy is laser focused on ensuring more bike-on-pedestrian crashes on the Queensboro Bridge. (Duffy via X)
• Related: Well, uh, don’t expect Duffy on a bike any time soon. (The Cut)
• The memo that lawyers working for the U.S. DOT accidentally uploaded to the federal court docket that cast doubt on its anti-congestion pricing legal strategy can’t be used in court, a judge ruled. (NY Times)
• Uber is spending big on five City Council races. (Crain’s)
• Open gangway subways are a hit — and more are on the way. (The City)
• A push for more park space near Brooklyn Borough Hall has run up on an old and expected foe — court employee parking. (Gothamist)
• Hoboken may sue to stop Murphy’s Turnpike widening. (PIX11)

And finally, Streetsblog was honored to receive the Deadline Club’s award for digital video reporting on Thursday night.

We submitted three short reported videos for the award — “You Can Walk Faster Than This NYC Bus,” “NYPD’s Illegal Parking Has Cops In Trouble With the Feds” and “Instacart Shoppers Aren’t Covered by Minimum Wage Law.” Watch them all — and much, much more — on our YouTube, TikTok and Instagram channels.

All credit goes to Streetsblog Engagement Editor Emily Lipstein, who has transformed how we reach more and bigger audiences in the little under one year since she joined our staff. Emily directs and edits nearly all of Streetsblog’s video content, and shares this award with reporters (and on-screen talent) Dave Colon, Sophia Lebowitz and David Meyer.

“Within mere weeks, Emily revolutionized and professionalized Streetsblog’s multi-media effort, bringing out talents on the staff that more people than Deadline Club judges are appreciating. We are so proud of her,” said Streetsblog Editor-in-Chief Gersh Kuntzman.

Lipstein, who also runs and monitors Streetsbog’s social media feeds joked that the award “may just make all of the death threats worth it.”

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