Cyclist Killed In Midwood Was Park Slope Triathlete, Journalist

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The cyclist who was killed in Midwood on Sunday when a crash sent an SUV hurtling in his direction was a 52-year-old translator, journalist and triathlete from Park Slope.

Jose Alzorriz died at the Coney Island Avenue and Avenue L intersection after a teenage driver who ran a red light T-boned a Honda and sent the car careening into Alzorriz, who was sitting on his bike at the traffic light. He became the 19th cyclist in New York City, and the 14th in Brooklyn, to lose his life this year.

In the days since the crash, friends, family, elected officials and fellow cyclists mourned Alzorriz, who was a longtime translator and journalist in New York City. Friends told The Daily News that Alzorriz had moved to New York from Bilbao, Spain in the early 1990s.

“He was truly, truly an amazing individual who touched a lot of people’s lives just by helping them,” Alzorriz’s best friend Danny Artiga, told the News. “I will miss him deeply — my conversations with him, my coffees with him.”

Artiga had been Alzorriz's trainer for an upcoming triathlon, the latest race the 52-year-old was hoping to participate in since becoming an avid cyclist and runner in his 30s. Alzorriz had been returning from a swim at Brighton Beach when he was hit on Sunday.

Alzorriz worked as a translator for Citigroup and as a managing director with a company called Executive Lingua. Before that, he held a variety of journalism posts, including as a translation editor for the Wall Street Journal and a news editor for Bloomberg, according to his LinkedIn.

Sunday's crash also injured a 52-year-old pedestrian and the 39-year-old driver of the Honda. Both were sent to the hospital.

The 18-year-old driver who hit the Honda, Umar Baig, was taken into custody after the crash, but has since been released. The News reports that police are hoping to charge him, but might have an uphill legal battle to do so.