Car Hits Brownstone in Brooklyn Heights

By on September 5, 2010 8:54 pm in Brooklyn Heights, News

BHB Newshound “SR” reports in with this tidbit and photos about a vehicular mishap on Remsen and Hicks Street tonight:

Thought you might be interested in this. A woman somehow managed to smash into a corner brownstone on… backwards!  Luckily, nobody was hurt. This just happened at around 7PM on Sunday.

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  • http://www.danrosenbaum.com danno

    At about 8:30 or so, a tow truck yanked the car out of the pit — *and the car drove away under its own power.* It was probably even legal to drive: taillights were working, and even the license plate light was OK. A great advertisement for Subarus.

    The building, other than extensive damage to its cast iron fence, appeared to be unscathed.

    Anyone have any idea how a car could back in the building so forcefully? It was a pretty odd angle….

  • heights

    Supposedly she was driving down Hicks and decided as she passed Remsen to backup to go down Remsen. She hit the gas instead of the brakes.

  • Kai

    I happened to be walking by with a DSLR on my way to snap some Promenade sunset shots. I have a slightly different angle than the ones above, from across Ramsen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbrinker/4961833675/

  • WillowtownCop

    I hope she gets so many points they take her license away. Some people should not have them in the first place.

    It’s pure luck she didn’t pin any pedestrians against the wall.

  • lori

    With parking so scarce in the heights, many people back up (illegally) across intersections to get a space. Scary! When crossing a one way street, I still look both ways, usually because bicycles often (illegally) go the wrong way and also don’t pay attention to red lights.

  • Demonter

    Try texting and backing up at the same time…not wise.

  • frenchbull

    did this happen on remsen st or ramsen st

  • nabeguy

    texting + driving = wrexting

  • George Earl

    Grab her license before she grab’s one of our lives!

  • Kai

    An interesting new safety feature would be cars not letting you slam down the accelerator while in reverse – shouldn’t be too hard to implement.

  • http://www.PoetsUSA.com Dorothy Daniela Josephs

    Lori, (Above)
    You are so correct. What infuriates me is the bicycles coming at me from every which way and on the sidewalks too with no light or bells for warning. The bicyclists and delivery boys on bikes on the sidewalks rolling up soundlessly behind you and your heart stops, because they are suddenly there, and if you stepped one inch to the right or left you’d be knocked down with a hip or leg and arm injury. They come up soundlessly on their rubber tires behind you ON THE SIDEWALK where it’s against the law –missing you by an inch, and making your old heart jump. It should be prosecuted with fines. The bicyclists rarely stop for a light and go the wrong way down one-way streets quite constantly. It’s a real hazard, especially when you are nearly 70 and a broken bone doesn’t heal so quickly. More bicyclists are good for the environment, but they must be made to obey the laws, and should be licensed with license plates for a small fee that would help the city create and maintain more lanes for them. They should be made to have bells for warning pedestrians, and license plates for identity, and lights at night. They are becoming a SERIOUS HAZARD to themselves and others when they disobey the laws that apply to them as they do to other vehicles. But few obey the traffic laws. Many ride on the sidewalk and promenade where they are NOT allowed by law. I am nearly hit by a bicycle every day of the week when I walk around the Heights.

  • Tony

    I must comment: Two years ago today, my wife was hit by one of the cracker-jack car service drivers from the Henry Street establishment. In an empty street, on a day very similar to today, he was zooming backward for a space. She suffered a broken pelvis and many staples in her scalp. he insisted she somehow fell onto his statioary car. Riiiight.

    Similarly, (and I’m a bike rider) I agree that the bike situation is out of control. Bike riders frequently yell at people legally crossing the street at Clinton & Cadman because the pedestrians are in the bike lane – then they go sailing through the red light, which somehow isn’t a rule that applies to bicycles. I see this on a frequent basis, especially on the way to work. There’s a similar situation on Adams Street at the intersections near the bridge. Enforcement anyone?

  • Arch Stanton

    I’ll bet more pedestrians cross against the light than cyclists…

  • David on Middagh

    I wonder if Lori realized she was hijacking the thread when mentioning illegal bicyclist moves?

    As long as we’re no longer talking about the AUTOMOBILE accident, I think people should have a choice of off-topic rant subjects:

    a. Darn those bicyclists
    b. Darn those chain stores and nail salons
    c. Darn those complainers

    (Discuss.)

  • Arch Stanton

    d. The pebbles on the Brooklyn Bridge Park pathways

  • tb

    Possibly the driver saw Paul Giamatti.

  • tb

    Of course I meant that said driver only wanted a closer look, not to back over him.

  • dick caveat

    Lori, DDJ, and Arch Stanton (nice shoutout to the g,b, and the u)

    -NOBODY flouts the rules more than pedestrians. Pedestrians are far more dangerous to bicyclists that the other way around. They’re far more dangerous than vehicles. More bicycle accidents are caused by recalcitrant pedestrians than by wayward bicyclists. The scapegoating of bicyclists by pedestrians is emblematic of the latter’s obstinacy.

  • Arch Stanton

    @ dick caveat

    Exactly!

  • Sad Neighbor

    This is shameful.

  • Sad Neighbor

    We need to take back the streets!

  • Sad Neighbor

    Revoke the license!

  • Melissa

    Just to weigh in on the bicyclists: As a bike rider, I try to obey the laws, just as I would when driving a car. That said, many people don’t. Just so you know, Dorothy, the law actually DOES require cyclists to have lights on their bikes at night and to have a bell. Of course, the other obvious things are law, too: not riding on sidewalks, riding in the right direction on one way streets, stopping at red lights, etc. The problem is that there is no enforcement.