Brooklyn widower fatally struck by car lost his wife years earlier to reckless driver
An elderly Brooklyn man struck and killed by a motor vehicle last month was the widower of a woman whose death under similar circumstances sparked a movement to have cars banned from Prospect Park.
Cops said Norman Fruchter, 85, was struck by a Hyundai Elantra on Dec. 22 near 68th St. and Bliss Terrace in Bay Ridge around 10:15 p.m.
Medics rushed Fruchter to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he died nearly a week later, according to police.
The Elantra driver was reversing down 68th St. when he hit Fruchter, who was trying to cross the street, cops said.
The 42-year-old driver remained at the scene. No criminal charges were filed.
Fruchter’s wife, Rachel Fruchter, an epidemiologist and professor at SUNY Downstate, died in July 1997 after a van struck her while she was riding a bicycle through Prospect Park.
Cops at the time said the van driver had cut through the park to avoid traffic on the surrounding streets.
The accident occurred near the busiest entrance to the park, at Parkside and Ocean avenues.
The area where he was driving was supposed to be closed that day.
“We are experiencing a similar situation 25 years later, and what’s changed for bicyclists and pedestrians in New York City and what hasn’t?” said Chenda Fruchter, the victim’s daughter. “Not as much as we would all like.”
She said her father was coming from Owl’s Head Park after walking his dog when he was hit. The park is just across the street from where he’d lived with his wife.
Chenda Fruchter and her brother, Lev, said they have been told about surveillance footage that shows the driver reversing “at speed.” They decided not to watch it.
She said they prefer to remember their father for his family devotion and community service. Fruchter was a school board member and president for a long time, she added.
“He was a very accomplished, renowned education activist focused on empowering parents to take on the schools of their children and make sure there’s equity across the systems they deal with,” said Chenda Fruchter.
Fruchter was still working and regularly published a blog through New York University’s Metro Center advocating for educational reform.
“Both of our parents were people who gave their all to New York City,” Lev Fruchter said.
“These are the people that New York loses because of this country’s alignment with the automobile. Even in New York, too many people are allowed to drive that shouldn’t be,” he added. “Neither of these people will have any consequences for killing our parents, not even financial.”
