Two Pedestrians Killed in a Month in Same Upper East Side Precinct

2:36 PM EDT on May 9, 2014

Motorists have killed two pedestrians in the 19th Precinct, on the Upper East Side, in the last month. The second victim was a woman hit by a school bus driver yesterday.

Photo: Neetzan Zimmerman / ##https://twitter.com/neetzan/status/464490348698693633/photo/1##@neetzan##

The victim was crossing E. 93rd Street at Second Avenue south to north at around 3:30 p.m. when she was run over by the bus driver, who was traveling west on 93rd, according to reports. She died at the scene.

NYPD had not released the victim's identity as of this afternoon. Reports said she appeared to be in her 40s.

From the Daily News:

“The bus was traveling westbound and trying to get through a yellow light before it turned red. The bus driver didn't see the pedestrian. He was looking straight ahead trying to make the light,” the witness said.
He said the [Second Avenue subway] construction barriers were likely a factor.
“It really does obfuscate the view,” he said.

Multiple media reports speculated that the victim may have been crossing against the light, though one man told DNAinfo that drivers often run reds at the intersection.

Freddy Alvarez, the resident manager at the nearby Waterford Condominiums, did not witness the accident but saw the gruesome aftermath and groceries scattered in the roadway.
He said that traffic barriers and equipment from construction on the Second Avenue subway line create a hazard for pedestrians and a distraction for drivers.
It is "very dangerous. They don't stop," he said. "The fence blocks the [traffic] light."
A temporary light was placed at the intersection when a stop sign failed to properly regulate traffic, Alvarez said.
"Even with light," he added, "people don't stop."

No summonses were issued to the driver, an NYPD spokesperson told Streetsblog, and the investigation is ongoing.

In April, 22-year-old Kelly Gordon was struck and killed by two cab drivers at York Avenue and E. 81st Street, 11 blocks south and two blocks east of yesterday's crash. Media reports claimed Gordon was jaywalking, but family members said the police report contradicted that account. No summonses were issued, according to Gordon's father, who testified before the City Council at a Vision Zero hearing last month.

As of March, officers from the 19th Precinct had ticketed 15 drivers for speeding in 2014, and 185 for failure to yield. Local officers wrote 29 speeding tickets in all of 2013.

Both crashes occurred in the City Council district represented by Ben Kallos, who went to the scene yesterday. Kallos said six kids, from age five to 11, were on the bus. "Nobody should die from a traffic accident," Kallos told DNAinfo.

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

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