2 Midtown Crashes Leave 1 Dead, 8 Hurt Amid Street Safety Calls

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Two separate crashes within hours of each other on the East Side of Midtown left an elderly man dead and eight people injured, and prompted calls for pedestrian safety improvements in the neighborhood.

The first crash happened around 11:27 p.m. Thursday, when a 92-year-old man crossing East 40th Street was hit by someone driving a dark-colored car heading north on First Avenue, according to police.

The driver fled along First Avenue, while the victim, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

About nine hours later and 10 blocks north, another frightening crash unfolded at 8:37 a.m. Friday, when a white van heading south on Second Avenue near East 50th Street hit a Toyota Camry, sending it careening onto a sidewalk.

The crash injured eight people, including two children, who were all hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The van driver, who may have been intoxicated, also tried to flee but was arrested about a block south, police said.

Since 2012, more than 1,300 pedestrians have been injured in crashes that occurred within the two ZIP codes where this week's accidents happened, according to the city's Vision Zero data. Sixteen have been killed, including Thursday's victim.

City Councilmember Keith Powers tweeted that the crashes reflected "the urgent need to invest in and implement safe streets that protect pedestrians and keep New Yorkers safe."

"I’ll be working with my staff and the community to explore policy and design implementations to ensure safer streets," he added in a statement.

Replying to Powers's tweet, neighbors chimed in with other local concerns: the FDR off-ramp at East 34th Street is a "merciless god who requires weekly sacrifices," wrote one resident, who said accidents were so frequent that they had turned off Citizen app alerts.

"I feel that the city should convert avenues like 2nd to two-way streets with safely designed space for driving/loading, buses, and walking and biking," wrote Ryan Smith, who commutes along Second Avenue to his job in Midtown. "One-way avenues with multiple lanes give drivers the feel of a highway, which is not consistent with a speed limit of 25 mph."

Other replies suggested adding more speed cameras, suspending licenses for drivers who speed and adding more protected bike lanes.