Nassau police: Man struck, killed crossing Woodmere street

A 73-year-old man crossing a Woodmere street Tuesday morning was struck and killed by an SUV, Nassau police said.

The 2019 Infiniti SUV, driven by an unidentified 36-year-old woman, was heading south on Peninsula Boulevard near Edward Avenue about 6:55 a.m. when it hit Stewart Hecht, police said.

Hecht was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 7:40 a.m., police said.

The driver remained at the scene and the Nassau police homicide squad, which investigates fatal crashes, was handling the case, according to a department news release.

The intersection near where the SUV struck Hecht is being considered for a traffic light. An online petition posted after Hecht's death asked for a signal at the location over safety concerns.

A Nassau County traffic study to determine whether a traffic light is needed was approved earlier in December, according to Steve Smirti, spokesman for State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach). Smirti said Kaminsky had spoken to the office of County Executive Laura Curran about the matter. The study is expected to take several more months to complete, Smirti said.

Reached last night, Christine Geed, a spokeswoman for Curran, said she was looking into the matter but had no immediate comment.

The petition, on change.org, said the intersection is in need of a traffic light because of numerous crashes and pedestrians hit.

By 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, the petition had garnered nearly 2,100 of a stated goal of 2,500 signatures.

Devorah Wachsler, who lives around the corner from the crash and signed the petition, said her family knows Hecht. He had just come from morning prayers at a synagogue on Edwards Avenue close to the intersection, she said. There have been frequent crashes there in the 18 years she has lived in the house, Wachsler said.

"It's a death trap," she said. "That corner's a death trap."

Pedestrians — including worshippers at the synagogue and boys studying at a yeshiva a few blocks away — frequently cross the street there, Wachsler said.

"Years ago, I said, 'what is it going to take to get a light?' " she said, " … and today someone died."

In 2018, there were 22 pedestrians killed and 821 injured in crashes in Nassau, and 43 killed and 543 injured in Suffolk, according to preliminary data from the New York State Safety Statistical Repository.

According to the most recent repository data for 2019, there were 20 pedestrian fatalities and 530 injured in Nassau, and 22 fatalities and 318 injured in Suffolk.  

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.