James Giambalvo

James was riding his bike in Great Kills when he was fatally struck by the driver of a SUV. We installed a ghost bike in his memory on the corner where he was struck. 

From the Staten Island Advance"We both changed each other’: Wife speaks fondly of husband, 52, who died in Great Kills bicycle-SUV crash

An avid bicycle rider who, alongside his wife, pedaled from their
neighborhood of Great Kills to areas of the Island as far as Clay Pit
Pond and oftentimes to “the other end” of the borough, died last week after he was struck by an SUV while bicycling."

James was a Track Inspector remembered fondly by the TWU local 100. 

from SILive & Advance

Police
identified James Giambalvo, 52, as the man who died after the bicycle
he was riding was struck by an SUV in his home community of Great Kills.

Police
responded on Friday at about 10:15 a.m. to a report of a crash at the
intersection of Armstrong and Wilson avenues, according to a statement
from the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Officers found Giambalvo unconscious and unresponsive with severe trauma
on his head and body. He was transported by EMS to Staten Island
University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, where he died, according to the
police statement.

Further
investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation
Squad determined that a 35-year-old woman was driving a 2021 Infinity
SUV southbound on Wilson Avenue when she struck Giambalvo, who was
traveling in the same direction, according to the police statement.

The
Infinity then collided with a parked and unoccupied 2001 Honda parked
along the west curb line, almost immediately after coming into contact
with the bicycle, police said. The Infinity then struck a small DOT sign
pole before coming to a rest on the curb, according to the police
statement.

The 35-year-old driver remained on scene. No other injuries were reported and the investigation continues, police said.

The crash prompted a large emergency response Friday morning in Great Kills.

The
man was pinned under the vehicle, according to a source with knowledge
of the investigation, and his mangled bicycle was seen underneath the
SUV after he was rescued.

Neighbors described a frantic scene where they were unable to help the man because he was trapped underneath the car.

“It was horrific, the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Joe Salemmo. “I drive for a living and I see a lot of stuff.”

Salemmo and other neighbors wanted to use one or more car jacks to lift the SUV off of the victim.

“I was trying to get people to get a jack,” Salemmo said, but added that “no one had a jack.” The bicyclist was wedged under the SUV in a manner that even the firefighters had to struggle to remove him, Salemmo said.