3 dead in separate hit-and-runs in New York City

NEW YORK – The search is on for a driver who police say hit and killed a grandmother in Brooklyn just around the corner from where she lived.

It happened in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Advocates say it’s the third hit-and-run in New York City in just the past 24 hours.

“I got a text from her at two o’clock, and fours later, I guess she passed away,” Erika Zuber said.

Zuber is still in shock that her best friend is no longer here.

“We were best friends. We were a group of people who always met at the beach,” Zuber said. “Went for coffee and cake, and that’s the last time I saw her.”

Loved ones say Ann-Marie Wiesner, who moved to the U.S. from Switzerland in the 80s, was a beloved grandmother and musician. She loved her family, her German shepherd, and to play the violin.

“She had a great spirit. She was a grandma, yes, and just enjoyed life,” Zuber said.

Police said the 72-year-old was pushing a shopping cart while crossing Marine Avenue Thursday afternoon when, all of a sudden, the driver of a sedan, who appears to be speeding, hit her and kept on going. She died of severe head trauma.

“It’s not worth speeding. It happens here a lot,” Zuber said.

Residents in the Bay Ridge neighborhood say drivers speed there all the time because there aren’t any speed bumps, traffic lights, or stop signs for several blocks.

“We need something physical here to stop these people. Put a speed bump. I don’t care if they run it from my driveway across the street, it doesn’t matter to me. But get something to slow these cars down,” reisdent Hank D’Amato said.

CBS New York has learned this is the third fatal hit-and-run in the city in 24 hours.

“In New York City, we need safer crosswalks. We need more protected bike lanes. We need more protected bus lanes. We need to lower our speed limit. We need more automated enforcement,” Danny Harris of Transportation Alternatives said.

According to Transportation Alternatives, traffic violence on city streets is on the rise. So far this year, 83 pedestrians have died in traffic crashes, and 570 were seriously injured.

In the meantime, Wiesner’s friends and family are hoping the driver who took her life does the right thing.

“I hope he or she turns themselves in,” Zuber said.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.

Separately, a man was killed on the Lower East Side Friday morning when he was apparently hit by a construction boom.

Authorities say the 19-year-old was acting as a guide for the cherry picker as it was reversing when it fatally struck him.

We’re told another person was treated for a cardiac condition and rushed to Beth Israel Hospital.

The identity of the victim hasn’t been released.