A 17-year-old boy riding a bicycle to school was struck Tuesday morning at Berriman Street and Pitkin Avenue in East New York, and the driver of a white SUV left the scene, according to News 12 New York. Police have not publicly identified a suspect, and the investigation remains open.
News 12 reported that surveillance footage appears to show the SUV failing to yield before the collision and continuing away. The available account does not establish whether investigators have located the vehicle or determined the teenager’s current condition.
The crash occurred near P.S. 345 Patrolman Robert Bolden, whose listed address is 111 Berriman Street, according to Homes.com. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
What the city record shows
A 2019 NYC Department of Transportation presentation documented 51 total injuries, including five severe injuries, from 2013 through 2017 in the East New York Avenue, Howard Avenue and Pitkin Avenue project area. That area is separate from the Berriman Street intersection, so the figures do not describe this crash site or establish a current trend there.
The city has also pursued safety changes at other points along the broader corridor. A 2016 City Planning Commission report said bike lanes had been added to Pitkin Avenue, extending the Brownsville bike network into East New York.
At Zion Triangle Plaza in Brownsville, a different intersection at Pitkin Avenue and East New York Avenue, a 2020 project permanently closed Legion Street, removed one adjacent traffic lane and added a curb extension. The NYC Department of Design and Construction said the curb extension was intended to reduce pedestrian crossing distances.
A local case in a citywide traffic picture
The broader city picture has recently improved on one measure: NYC DOT reported 159 traffic fatalities through the first three quarters of 2025, down 18% from 194 at the same point in 2024. That citywide decline does not indicate what happened specifically on Pitkin Avenue or within the 75th Precinct.
For now, the central facts in the East New York case remain the collision, the driver’s flight and the unresolved search for the white SUV. Any broader assessment of safety at Berriman Street and Pitkin Avenue will require additional police information and a fuller review of crash records for that intersection.
