West Village

SLAUGHTER: Wrong-Way Van Driver Kills Woman in West Village Crosswalk

The driver of a commercial van struck and killed a woman in her 20s as he drove the wrong way on Morton Street.

By Nolan Hicks

3:20 PM EST on November 6, 2025

SLAUGHTER: Wrong-Way Van Driver Kills Woman in West Village Crosswalk

The van driver allegedly turned left out of this Morton Street parking garage so he could get to Seventh Avenue faster. Photo: Nolan Hicks

The wrong-way driver of a commercial van struck and killed a woman in her 20s who was crossing a West Village street in the crosswalk on Thursday, police said.

According to the NYPD, the driver, whose name was not released, pulled out of a parking garage on Morton Street just east of Seventh Avenue at around 8:30 a.m. But instead of turning right to drive eastbound on one-way Morton, he made the illegal left, and then struck and killed 27-year-old Valerie Schoeck, who lived nearby.

Schoeck was taken to Bellevue Hospital where she died.

“When I looked out, she was already getting CPR from this passerby,” said a person who works nearby. “People in the area immediately started helping her, but I think it was too late at that point.”

Police said the collision was still under investigation and had no details about why the driver, a 61-year-old man, made the illegal turn westbound toward Seventh Avenue on Morton.

The driver remained at the scene and has not been charged, police added.

It is unclear if the driver knew that Morton is a one-way, eastbound street. There is no “One Way” arrow immediately opposite the garage but the narrow street is clearly oriented eastbound.

But following the rules takes a lot longer. Residents of the area said that many drivers make the illegal left turn to head the wrong way on Morton from the garage because it eliminates the need to circle around the block with a right on Bleecker Street and then a second right onto Carmine Street before making the left onto Seventh Avenue.

Schoeck is the 93rd pedestrian killed through Nov. 2 this year, according to police. Over the same period this year, about 7,000 pedestrians have been injured by car drivers, or roughly 23 per day every day.

This story was updated after the NYPD released the victim’s name.

Nolan Hicks

Nolan Hicks is a longtime reporter in New York City, who focuses on investigative stories. He spent six years at The New York Post where his stories prompted the MTA to redesign parts of the Second Avenue Subway's East Harlem extension and helped uncover the LIRR overtime scandal. As a contributor to Curbed/New York Magazine, he dove into Amtrak's failing power grid, NJ Transit's reliability crisis and why it costs the MTA $100 million to put elevators into stations. He has also worked at the New York Daily News, Austin American-Statesman and San Antonio Express-News. He joined Streetsblog in January 2025.

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