From Gothamist, Aug. 10:
4-Yr-Old Killed In SI Hit-And-Run, Cops Seek Mercedes Benz Driver
Police are looking for the driver of a black Mercedes Benz sedan in connection with the hit-and-run death of a four-year-old on Staten Island. A witness told WCBS 2, “The Mercedes stopped. Everybody was yelling at him. He knew what he did. He pulled out of the parking lot of the deli where I am standing right now and he ran the child over. He has no regard for life if he could leave a little child laying in the street after he ran him over and just drove away. He has no conscience.”
Kyrillos Gendy, 4, and his mother and seven-year-old sister were crossing Richmond Road from the west side to the east when a Mercedes Benz with tinted windows struck them on Friday night just after 8 p.m. The car had exited the Diddle Dee Bagel and Deli and was going south on Richmond Road.
Kyrillos apparently landed on the sidewalk, facedown. He was pronounced dead at Staten Island University Hospital while his mother and sister are apparently “catatonic” after the ordeal.
The police released surveillance video of the car and said the driver is described as a white male with black hair, approximately 24-35 years old.
CBS New York adds:
The driver had was pulling out of the bagel shop parking to head south on Richmond Road lot when he hit the family, police said. He pulled over and got out of his car to see the woman and children on the ground, and hopped right back into the car and drove off, police said.
See more reasons WHY WE FIGHT
More decontextualized coverage of NYC car-nage
Coverage of the case of Sian Green, the young British tourist who lost a leg when a cab jumped the curb and sliced off her foot as she was eating a hot-dog at Rockefeller Center two days ago, is typically shallow and decontextualized. Because she is young and cute, all the coverage is about how plucky she is, determined to continue with her life sans a leg. Nothing about what happened to the motorist who hit her (on the sidewalk!) and whether he is facing charges—much less any acknowledgement that out-of-control motorists are a deeply systemic problem in New York City. (See AP, NY Post, Daily Mail) This has actually become a “feel-good” story. A biref rush of reassuring good vibes, we turn the page (excuse me, click on the next link) and move on—and the quotidian carnage continues…
So slicing off a woman’s leg is “carelessness”…
OK, we just found this, from the NY Post, Aug. 22.
Can you imagine if Sian had lost her leg in a “terrorist” attack? The outrage, the calls for vengeance, the police-state measures, the anti-immigrant harassment… But this is accepted as mere “carelessness,” and will be forgotten as soon as the news cycle moves on.
Can anyone please explain the double standard?
How much is a human life worth? $400 for an immigrant grandma
At least the killer was fined something. More than usually happens in New York. A justly outraged opinion from the Toronto Sun, Aug. 22:
Contrast the case of Jeff “Free” Luers the “eco-terrorist” who got 10 years after torching SUVs at Oregon dealership. Now, we don’t condone burning SUVs, which is a singularly stupid way to protest air pollution, but it does demonstrate how way, way, way, way out of wack things are…
No, you are not safe on the sidewalk
From Gothamist, Sept. 5: