By Alex Ginsberg
Five-year-old Ryan Sanchez liked to run to his parents’ car and sit on the hood while he waited for his mother or father to drive him somewhere. But the endearing habit proved tragic last Thursday night when the boy dashed into the street following a family outing in Astoria Heights Park, relatives said.
Sanchez was struck and killed by a car at about 7 p.m. in front of 30-44 45th St., police said. The driver of the car, whose name was not released, was issued a summons for driving with an expired registration, according to authorities. Additional investigation into the accident was still ongoing.
Witnesses said the incident occurred with no warning. The first indication anything was wrong, they said, was a crowd gathering on the street. Then came the wails of the boy’s mother, 36-year-old Mariana Espinoza.
“She was going crazy, falling down,” said a 10-year-old boy named Kenny. “People were grabbing her arms.”
He said Sanchez was not moving.
The boy’s parents, Espinoza, 36, and Jorge Sanchez, 38 – neither of whom speaks English – stood tearfully in front of their Jackson Heights home Friday as a family friend spoke on their behalf.
The friend, Jheni Verdugo, said the boy was quiet and friendly and loved to ride his bicycle and play outside. He enjoyed it so much, in fact, that his parents drove their only child 15 minutes away to the Astoria park twice a week rather than using a smaller one only two blocks from their home on 70th Street a few feet from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
“He likes that park,” she said, still referring to the boy in the present tense. “He always asked to go to that park.”
Her daughter, 9-year-old Stephanie, occasionally played with Sanchez.
“He was friendly and playful,” she said. “He asked it we could play. He let us ride his bike.”
But she added that Sanchez, who was to start kindergarten in the fall, was a serious child who seldom laughed or smiled.
At Astoria Heights Park, where children continued to play Friday morning, parents said added safety features were needed. Cars frequently drove too fast up 45th Street, they said, and it was easy for a child – especially a young one – to wander out into the street. Carina Salbi, a 34-year-old photographer, said she was chasing after her own 2-year-old son near the corner of 45th Street and 30th Road when the accident happened.
“This is a dangerous place,” Salbi said, adding that safety gates or speed bumps were good ideas.
As she spoke, a highway patrol officer stood in the street recording the speeds of passing cars while a Department of Transportation worker photographed the accident site.
A spokesman for DOT said the agency was looking into whether graffiti had obstructed parking signs and caused cars to be illegally parked. It was not clear whether that was a factor in the accident.
Reach reporter Alex Ginsberg by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
