A 9-year-old Williamsburg boy was killed a block from his home today while headed to shul, when he was mowed down by a motorist with a suspended drivers license. Yehoshua Ganzfried was crossing Wallabout Street a little before 8 a.m. when he was struck by a Honda turning on to Bedford Ave., police said. Seconds later, witnesses said, they heard the driver screaming. “I didn’t hear any screeching tires or anything,” said a 58-year-old Williamsburg resident, who asked not to be identified. “I heard a woman screaming so loudly. She kept saying, ‘Oh my God!'”
Yehoshua was rushed by paramedics to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was niftar a short time later, police said.
“It’s so sad that this little boy was killed. It shouldn’t have happened,” the witness said.
“You always see kids crossing the street in front of their parents. It’s not safe.”
Meanwhile the driver, Novella Bilkerdyka, 54, of Brooklyn, made no attempt to flee the scene and was later charged with driving with a suspended license, police said.
State records show Bilkerdyka has been cited four times for insurance lapses in the last three years.
Neighbors, meanwhile, said the Wallabout St. and Bedford Ave. intersection can be dangerous.
“They need to install more stop signs and safety precautions so things like this don’t happen,” said Japheth Hanson, 49, who works in the area.
“This is just an awful, sad story.”
May we know no further tzaar.
{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter/NY Daily News}
hashem yerachem