Surveillance cameras were still rolling when a dollar van came hurtling into a Flatbush healthcare clinic on Saturday, slamming into the building so hard that pieces of the vehicle ended up lodged inside, according to the clinic owner.
Owner Lourdie Honore says she watched the crash unfold on her phone, then raced to her Flatbush office to find her business badly mangled and the 47-year-old van driver already speaking with responding officers. Honore says the scene inside the vehicle raised serious red flags: she alleges there were empty alcohol bottles in the van, yet, she says, police did not administer a breathalyzer test.
Honore also says officers did not give her the police report number she needs to start insurance claims, leaving her stuck in bureaucratic limbo as she tries to figure out how and when she can rebuild.
Cleanup at the clinic was still underway days later, with the office in ruins. "It's destroyed. It's just all destroyed," Honore told News 12, describing the aftermath.
Officers told the station the driver lost control of the dollar van after another car cut in front of her, and that the other driver was taken to the hospital. According to News 12, police issued two civil summonses to the van driver, one for operating without valid registration tags and another for driving without insurance. The outlet also reported that the vehicle was not registered with the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Flatbush Safety Concerns and Dollar Vans
Flatbush Avenue has been on the city’s safety watchlist for years, and a major redesign is already underway. The city’s transportation department recently kicked off a reconstruction that includes center-running bus lanes and other pedestrian upgrades designed to slow vehicles and cut down on crashes, according to NYC DOT. The agency says the project is intended to improve safety for buses, people on foot and nearby businesses, while also making transit more reliable along the corridor.
Private dollar vans, a familiar sight on Flatbush and other Brooklyn corridors, have for years been called out as a recurring safety concern. Earlier coverage highlighted previous crashes that sparked calls for stricter oversight of these operations, as reported by Streetsblog.
Clinic Owner Waits for Answers and Paperwork
For now, Honore says she is focused on getting basic information from the police. She is pressing the precinct for the official report number and for clarity on whether the driver was ever tested for impairment, steps she says are necessary before she can move ahead with insurance claims and repairs.
As News 12 reported, police told the station that the driver lost control after being cut off, and that civil summonses were issued for registration and insurance violations. Those types of summonses are typically handled through the city’s administrative tribunal, the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, and OATH provides resources explaining how administrative hearings and summons adjudication work.
Honore says she is still waiting for written paperwork from the precinct. Once she finally gets the police report, she plans to move ahead with repair work and the insurance claim process, hoping to bring her damaged clinic back to life.
