Hearts are heavy in Southold this morning as police reveal the identity of the man killed on Route 48 Thursday night as longtime environmentalist Howard Meinke, of Laurel.
According to Southold Town police, Eric Melrose, 41, of Greenport, was driving east on County Road 48 at 7:45 p.m. when he struck Meinke, 86, who was attempting to cross the road in a marked crosswalk. Witnesses at the scene said they believed Meinke was coming from an Eastern Long Island Hospital auxiliary spaghetti dinner fundraiser at the Soundview Restaurant.
Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said Meinke was with his wife at the time of the accident; she had just finished crossing the street successfully, he said.
Greenport Fire Department Rescue responded and transported Meinke to Eastern Long Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Melrose’s vehicle was impounded pending a vehicle safety inspection. No criminal charges were filed, but the case is pending further investigation, police said.
Meinke was a familiar face at Southold Town Hall, attending scores of meetings to speak out on subjects concerning the environment. He was the former president of the North Fork Environmental Council. Most recently, Meinke, a longtime boater, attended meetings to discuss the proposed expansion of the Galley Ho in New Suffolk, which he supported.
Traffic was rerouted from the scene. After the accident, some said that stretch of road was historically dangerous; at least one other fatality took place when an elderly gentlemen was killed crossing Route 48 in recent years, and another man was killed in the same location in 2009.
The fatality was the second tragedy to strike the North Fork on Thursday. A young Farmingdale mother died in an accident in Orient earlier in the day; her baby was uninjured.
