Calls Mount For Safety Reform After Another Cyclist Is Struck, Killed In Chelsea

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- For the second time in a week this weekend, a bicyclist has been hit and killed on the streets of Manhattan.

As WCBS 880's Mike Sugerman reported, the accidents have inflamed passions on both sides of the issue of New York City cycling.

Around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, an 80-year-old man riding a bicycle was struck and killed in a crosswalk when a tour bus driver turned left at 29th Street and Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, and did not see him.

The cyclist, Michael Mamoukakis, was pronounced dead at NYC Health + Hospitals Bellevue.

It was the second incident involving bicycle and a tour bus in a period of a week.

Around 8:15 a.m. Monday, Dan Hanegby, 36, was riding a Citi Bike when he was struck and killed by a charter bus on 26th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues.

Police said Hanegby and the 52-year-old bus driver were both headed east on 26th Street when they collided. Hanegby fell to the ground and was run over by the rear tires of the bus, police said.

Few things ignite passion among New Yorkers more than discussions about bicycles and cars with cyclists and drivers.

"They'll get through to an intersection, they don't look and they just keep going," one man said of cyclists.

"I mean as far as they're concerned they're on this big metal box and we're indispensable, you know," another said of drivers.

"Well like I said they don't really stick to a bike lane, they're just, they're all over traffic, they're not really following the rules of the road," a man added of cyclists.

With the recent deaths of bicyclists on Manhattan streets, politicians are calling for changes in the law.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)