From Newsday, Oct. 3:

Man run over on Queens Blvd. dies

A Queens man run over by a hit-and-run driver Monday night while walking home from religious services died today, as police recovered the vehicle they believe was involved.

Yakub Aminov, 59, of Rego Park, was hit by a sport utility vehicle traveling west on Queens Boulevard around 8 p.m. Monday, the Yom Kippur holiday.

Aminov was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was hospitalized in very serious condition before passing away today.

Police say they found the SUV today in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

Earlier, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said "For someone who apparently was on his way home from temple after observing the holiday and to have this happen to him is just a terrible tragedy."

The driver of the silver Nissan SUV sped off after the accident, which occurred in the Rego Park section, and was being sought, police said.

The boulevard, which runs across half the borough through some of its busiest neighborhoods, often is called the Boulevard of Death because it has been the scene of many accidents involving pedestrians, with an average of 10 killed each year during the 1990s.

Safety measures including fences to prevent jaywalking and longer pedestrian crossing times at traffic lights have been implemented in recent years to help reduce the number of deaths on the boulevard, some parts of which are more than 12 lanes wide.

See more reasons WHY WE FIGHT, and the struggle against car culture in New York City.