Updated | A Battery Park senior was run down and killed by the driver of a jitney bus on Thursday night steps from her apartment.
The Daily News blamed the woman, Arlene Kalfus, 81, for allegedly crossing mid-block, but the design of South End Avenue is also likely a culprit here. The once-quiet roadway in the village-like Battery Park City is now often packed with taxis double-parked and illegally parked cars and trucks, thanks to on-street car storage and a center median wide enough for a truck.
Even a random shot on Google captured the chaotic scene:
According to police, the bus driver, whose name was not released, hit Kalfus on South End Avenue between Liberty and Albany streets at just before 7 p.m. He remained on the scene after hitting Kalfus and was not charged.
The Daily News reported that the 57-year-old driver worked for the Downtown Alliance, which runs about a half-dozen jitney buses on a fairly lengthy route through Lower Manhattan.
The Downtown Alliance said its drivers are hired by Golden Touch, another transportation company. That company did not return a call.
The Downtown Alliance expressed its condolences for Kalfus in a statement.
This is an enormous tragedy. Information is hard to come by right now and we are awaiting further information and details from the police department. As we do so, our thoughts are with those who were close to Ms. Kalfus.
Road deaths are soaring in 2019, with Kalfus being the 50th victim so far this year. That number is up almost 30 percent from the same period last year.
The perception is that Battery Park City is a quiet, residential neighborhood, but danger lurks. Since January, 2017, there have been 46 crashes on South End Avenue alone, injuring six people and killing one.
In the entire neighborhood over the same period, there have been 150 crashes, injuring 19.
Story was updated to provide more information from the Downtown Alliance.
