BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Dan Hanegby, the financier who was killed while riding a Citi Bike after being struck by a bus on West 26th Street on Monday, will be buried in his native Israel, neighbors said.
Hanegby, a top-ranked tennis player in Israel before joining the Israeli special forces and then moving to the U.S. to attend college, was remembered in his leafy neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights as a loving dad and a cycling enthusiast.
Neighbors were reeling from the loss of the 36-year-old Credit Suisse investment banker, whose death was ruled an accident caused by blunt force trauma to the the torso, the city's Chief Medical Examiner said Tuesday.
He left behind a wife and two young children.
"He was a real nice fellow," said Julius Erdei, the superintendent of the seven-unit building Hanegy moved into three years ago. "He loved his wife and his kids. A real family man. They are such nice people."
Erdei saw Hanegby's wife on Tuesday morning, when she told him that her husband's body would be flown back to Israel for his burial.
"She was crying so badly that even I cried," Erdei said.
The super recalled Hanegby's passion for cycling, noting that the banker had four bikes neatly lined up in the storage room and a stationary bike, too. Every Sunday, Erdei, would see Hanegby leaving on a racing bike.
"His life was bicycling," Erdei said.
Dr. Walter "Trip" Darby III, who lives in the building next door and knew Hanegby as a friendly "sidewalk neighbor," also recalled seeing him with his racing bikes.
"He was always a very pleasant man. Quiet, reserved, stoic," Darby said, noting that Hanegby was a "very involved" father well liked by many on the block including the local ice cream truck vendor he frequented with his young children.
"He was a very nice neighbor, and people are really devastated by the reality of life, and what can happen in the blink of an eye. You go to work on Monday morning and unfortunately this time you don't come home," Darby said.
Darby last saw Hanegby about five days ago laughing with his children, who were intrigued by Darby's flower planting in tree beds.
"That was the last time I saw him, having fun with his kids. So, what a nice memory to have," Darby said. "My heart aches for his wife and children and family. I hope this is a time people come together and send prayers and good energy and root for them."
