A yellow cab driver ran over and killed a man in an Upper East Side crosswalk Saturday. While in the last two years motorists have killed at least 10 people walking in the 19th Precinct, where the crash occurred, the precinct has prioritized ticketing cyclists and confiscating e-bikes from delivery workers, in collaboration with local City Council Member Ben Kallos.
Manikam Srymanean, 51, was crossing at the intersection of York Avenue and E. 78th Street when he was struck at around 9:30 Saturday night, according to NYPD and published reports. As of earlier today the NYPD public information office had no details on how the collision occurred. Gothamist reported that the cab driver was turning left. Police told the Post Srymanean “was in the crosswalk and had the green light.”
From WCBS:
“When the cab came around the corner, it hit a guy,” said the [cab driver’s] passenger, named Thomas. “He went on the hood, the car accelerated a bit, and then the guy slid down the hood and went under the car.”
Srymanean, known to locals as Mano, lived near the crash site and worked at a neighborhood deli. “I know him more than 25 years,” a deli customer told WCBS. “He’s a very generous guy. He was always giving a good hand to everybody, known and unknown.”
Srymanean was pronounced dead at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
The NYPD public information office said the crash investigation was still open, but police sources told the Post the driver, whose identity was shielded, won't be charged. Unless the driver is convicted of a traffic offense, in all likelihood he or she will remain in good standing with the Taxi and Limousine Commission, even if the deceased victim was walking with the right of way.
Pedestrian Andrea Kremen, 68, was fatally struck by a motorist making a right turn at York Avenue and E. 78th Street in January 2016. According to crash data tracked by Streetslog, of 10 pedestrians killed by motorists in the 19th Precinct in the last 24 months, seven were known or believed to have been walking with the right of way. Police charged the driver in only one of those cases.
More illegal #Ebikes removed from the streets of the #UpperEastSide #UES #VISIONZERO pic.twitter.com/0uVJviW7AE
— NYPD 19th Precinct (@NYPD19Pct) March 31, 2017
While motorists continue killing people, the 19th Precinct concentrates much of its traffic enforcement resources on bike-riding delivery workers. In recent weeks the precinct took to Twitter to boast about seizing electric-assist bikes that people use to make a living.
The precinct's skewed priorities are encouraged by Kallos, who regularly complains about cyclist behavior but rarely speaks up when a driver takes a life in his district.
“We got to do something,” Upper East Side resident Erik Scotsman told WCBS after Saturday's fatal crash. “You know, streets have to be safe to walk.”
