A Brooklyn bicyclist mowed down by a private carting truck has been identified as a noted architect and expectant father who specialized in “multi-faith worship spaces,” officials said Saturday.
Eric Salitsky, 35, was pedaling down Ninth Ave. in Borough Park about 8:30 a.m. Thursday when he was hit by the private sanitation truck at 37th St., cops said.
Medics rushed him to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died. He was killed about five blocks from his 42nd St. home, cops said.
He and his wife were expecting their first baby, his sister Amy Salitsky told the Daily News.
“My brother was basically the most creative, talented person I ever met,” she said. “Eric was so excited to have a baby and to teach his child all his passions.”
Salitsky’s wife, Tamara Cohen, was too grief-stricken to talk to reporters Saturday.
The architect had taken up bicycling for exercise about three years ago, said his sister, who, three days later, is still unclear how exactly how her brother died.
“We all heard the story in different ways,” she said. “He was exercising and just doing a regular bike ride. Police called my mother to confirm (his death). We were all just in shock. And, even when we were burying him, it didn’t feel real.”
The 62-year-old garbage truck driver that hit Salitsky never stopped. Responding officers searched the area and located the vehicle, which was owned by Mybem Corp., Thursday afternoon.
The driver wasn’t criminally charged, but was given a number of summonses for equipment violations, cops said.
“It is believed that the operator was not aware that he was involved in a collision,” the NYPD said Friday.
While the city Department of Sanitation is responsible for picking up residential refuse, garbage and recycling put out by city stores and businesses are picked up by private carters. Mybem Corp., located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is licensed by the city’s Business Integrity Commission, which oversees private carters.
Attempts to reach the hauler for comment were unsuccessful Saturday.
Salitsky, a Massachusetts native, worked as an architectural designer for ESKW/Architects in lower Manhattan.
“We brought him home to Worcester,” his sister said. “We were able to bury him next to my father who passed a few years ago. The thing about Eric is that he had friends all over the world. Everyone loved him.
“Even after we buried him we spoke to people of our local community and they were almost upset and heartsick as we were,” Amy continued. “It’s a little soothing to know that so many people are grieving with us and how much he affected so many people.”
In 2019, Salitsky was awarded the Stewardson Keefe LeBrun travel grant from the Center for Architecture of New York, which allowed him to tour the country and Europe to document the design and history of multi-faith worship spaces, according to his website.