The Weekly Carnage
The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle violence across the five boroughs and beyond. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.
1:19 PM EDT on August 19, 2011
The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle violence across the five boroughs and beyond. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.
Fatal Crashes (2 killed this week, 97 this year, 14 drivers charged*)
- LES: Cyclist Jeffrey Axelrod, 52, Crushed Under Cement Truck on Delancey Street; No Criminality Suspected (DNAinfo, News, Gothamist)
- Central Park: Motorcyclist Jeremy Spotts, 27, Killed After Colliding Head-On With Town Car (DNAinfo)
Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage
- UES: Multi-Car Crash Leaves Man Pinned Between Cars; Three Others Injured (DNAinfo)
- Maspeth: Sanitation Truck Driver “Loses Control,” Survives Smash Through Fifth-Floor Garage Wall (Post)
- Hell’s Kitchen: M42 Bus Driver Runs Over Rollerblader at West Side Greenway (Gothamist, Post)
- Harlem: Hit-and-Run SUV Driver Mows Down Teen Trying to Save Woman, Breaking His Leg (DNAinfo)
- Ridgewood: Motorcyclist Leads Cops on High-Speed Chase on Crowded Sidewalk (YourNabe)
- Morris Park: Pedestrian Struck in Hit-and-Run Rescued by Con Edision Workers (Bronx Times)
- Soho: Cab Driver Crashes Into Scaffolding, Injuring Four; “No Criminality Suspected” (DNAinfo)
- Jackson Heights: Drunk, Unlicensed Driver Attempting to Flee Crash Scene Held by FDNY (Post Blotter)
- Arden Heights: Driver Going 84 MPH on the West Shore Expressway Arrested for DWI (Post Blotter)
In the Region, Out of Town
- Point Lookout, NY: Driver Stopped at Drawbridge Killed After Being Hit by Pickup Truck Driver (AP)
- Mount Gretna, PA: NY-to-St. Louis Greyhound Bus Flips on Highway, Injuring Fourteen (AP)
- Peekskill, NY: Good Samaritans Rescue Woman and Baby From Burning Car Following Crash (WABC)
- Newark, NJ: Police Open Fire on Carjacking Suspect After He Runs Down, Drags Pedestrian (WPIX)
- Port Chester, NY: Tractor-Trailer Tire Flies Off and Smashes Car Windshield, Killing Driver (WPIX)
Following Up
- Bridgewater, NJ Man Suspected in Hit-and-Run Death of Cyclist Surrenders to Police (Star-Ledger)
- Former Nets Player Jayson Williams Begins Serving One-Year Sentence for DWI Crash (Post)
Other News
- 51 Bus, Truck Drivers Busted for Trying to Obtain Multiple Drivers Licenses (News)
- Cuomo Signs Complete Streets Bill, to Take Effect in February (Streetsblog)
- What Street Safety and Transit Improvements Will DOT Propose for Woodhaven Blvd? (Q Chron)
* Based on latest available reports
More from Streetsblog New York City
Council Speaker Slams Amazon For Delivery Worker Layoffs
Speaker Julie Menin said that the firing of 200 workers shows the need to regulate Amazon.
November 13, 2026
A Brooklyn Artist Built A Tower To Memorialize Victims Of Road Crashes
The landscape of New York City is really a crashscape.
November 13, 2026
Friday’s Headlines: Make Delivery Work Edition
Council Member Harvey Epstein wants to force delivery apps to provide rest areas, bathrooms and e-bike charging for their workers. Plus more news.
November 13, 2026
Transportation Advocates Split on Senate’s Big Permitting Bill
Would the BAAJA blast multimodal projects out of bureaucratic purgatory, make it a breeze to expand highways ... or both? Advocates sound off.
November 13, 2026
City to Close Bus-Clogged Lane on the Manhattan Bridge
Bus drivers love to block the lane, but it’s an opportunity to think much bigger.
November 12, 2026