Carnage

No Charges for Taxi Driver Who Plowed Into UWS Restaurant, Injuring Seven

The horrific death of a young mother in Midtown wasn't the only instance of curb-jumping mayhem on Friday. Shortly before Ysemny Ramos was pinned against a building by an allegedly drunk driver on E. 37th Street, a yellow cab lurched off Amsterdam at W. 106th, plowing onto the sidewalk and into a pizzeria.

By Brad Aaron

11:29 AM EDT on March 30, 2009

Photo: Fox 5

The horrific death of a young mother in Midtown wasn’t the only instance of curb-jumping mayhem on Friday. Shortly before Ysemny Ramos was pinned against a building by an allegedly drunk driver on E. 37th Street, a yellow cab lurched off Amsterdam at W. 106th, plowing onto the sidewalk and into a pizzeria.

Though seven people were hurt, with one in critical condition as of Friday, and though witnesses told the Post “the cab was competing with another car to make a turn when it careened, skidded and hit a pole, then veered into the pizzeria,” Gothamist reports that “The police told us no charges were filed because there was no criminality involved.”

For insight into the parallel universe of the New York City motorist, who bears no responsibility for his actions as long as he drives sober, see this piece from Gotham Gazette.

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.

Carnage | Street Safety | Traffic Justice

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.