[UPDATED] Courthouse Clerk Killed by Bus Driver Near City Hall
File photo: Gersh Kuntzman
A pedestrian was run down and killed by a private bus driver in Lower Manhattan on Thursday night — and the driver was charged.
Cops charged Xi Chen, 50, with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care for striking 28-year-old Kimberly Greer at the intersection of Centre and Leonard streets with his 2013 bus.
Cops say Greer was crossing Leonard Street, from south to north, inside the crosswalk when Chen made a left turn onto Leonard Street, and hit the pedestrian, who lives on Long Island. She was taken to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, where she died. Channel 7 News reported that the bus was empty at the time.
Greer, who got married last month, worked as a clerk in the Manhattan federal court.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker issued a statement on Friday mourning the "vibrant young woman with an excellent legal mind."
The statement continued:
She distinguished herself in chambers through her keen analytical skills and fluent writing. Most importantly, she was one of the most kind and generous persons I know, quick to lend a hand to colleagues, bake cookies for interns, and mentor students. She was a deeply valued and loved member of my chambers family and we are devastated by this tragedy.
Kimberly began her clerkship in March 2018. Prior to clerking she was an associate at Vedder Price P.C. She graduated from Fordham Law School in May 2016, cum laude. While at Fordham she distinguished herself as a leader. She was on Fordham Law School's National Moot Court Team, winning first place in oral advocacy and best brief writer. She was President of the Fordham Law School Student Association and an Associate Editor of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal. She was a Ruth Whitehead Whaley Scholar and recipient of the Eugene J. Keefe Award. Because of her strong advocacy skills, she was invited to and taught moot court at Fordham Law School in the Fall of 2018. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2012, where she also was on Dean's List.
We extend our deepest condolences to Kimberly's husband Michael Singer, her father George, her brothers Matt and Jon, and the rest of her family.
The death comes as the city is experiencing its safest year on record, with pedestrian, cyclist and motorist death possibly coming in under 200 for what experts believe is the first time in the automobile era. Through Nov. 30, 95 pedestrians, 10 cyclists and 71 drivers have died on the roads, according to city statistics.
That said, the NYPD reported that it is monitoring an uptick in pedestrian deaths in December.
"We are up a little bit in pedestrian fatalities this month, so it is something we are looking at and continuing to do the enforcement we do with the Vision Zero project," Terence Monahan, the NYPD's chief of department, told reporters on Friday.
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