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Cyclist Death Sparks NYPD Crackdown on Truckers Using Restricted Streets

By Gwynne Hogan | June 17, 2016 11:15am | Updated on June 20, 2016 8:39am
 Leah Sylvain, 27, was fatally struck by a truck in Bushwick on Tuesday morning.
Leah Sylvain, 27, was fatally struck by a truck in Bushwick on Tuesday morning.
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Courtesy of Newington Memorial Funeral Home

BUSHWICK — In the wake of a cyclist death last week, local police have slapped truckers illegally driving outside designated trucking routes with about 125 summonses in a 72 hour period, according to the 83rd Precinct commander.

"We have an obligation to prevent anybody else from dying," precinct leader Deputy Inspector Maximo Tolentino said. "This is more of a reason why we have to step it up, now we have a name."

Scenic painter and puppeteer Leah Sylvain, 27, was killed on June 7 about 7 a.m. on her way to work in he Brooklyn Navy Yard when truck driver Joseph Cherry, 52, cut into the bike lane on Evergreen Avenue striking her as he tried turning left onto Hart Street, according to police.

Cherry was arrested at the scene, charged with failure to yield and given a desk appearance ticket, police said. He was also cited for driving on a restricted street after he left the designated trucking route and cut through neighborhood streets to get to a gas station before the crash, Tolentino added.

Trucks are limited to certain routes identified by the city, unless they're making local deliveries or arriving or leaving from a truck depot.

In Bushwick, Broadway, Flushing Avenue, Cooper Street and Cypress Avenue are truck routes around the neighborhood, while the Myrtle Avenue truck route bisects the neighborhood.