A man was hit by a van on Broadway and 62nd street around 7 p.m. on Monday, and taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in critical condition. The man was identified as 59-year-old Moshe Shlomo Grun by JP Updates, a website about Jewish communities. NYPD did not have further information and a spokesman said the Collision Investigation Squad that investigates serious crashes had not been called to the scene. JP Updates reported:
“The pedestrian identified as Moshe Shlomo Grun, was crossing the street at the intersection of W 62nd street and Broadway just after 7:00pm, when a van traveling eastbound turned left onto Broadway and struck him.
FDNY responded to the scene and found Mr, Grun trapped under the van. After rescuing him he was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital with serious injuries to his foot, head, in cardiac arrest.”
The website also reported that Grun was in the crosswalk when he was hit.
“He was crossing the street with a big jacket over his head. It was raining and it was very hard to see,” witness Carlos Garcia told the Post.
Terrible but not very surprising on the UWS anymore. And no police ever at any major UWS intersections.
Within the past 3 months, I have had very close calls in getting hit by taxis and SUVs while crossing the following deadly UWS intersections: 77 St. & Columbus, 79 St. & Amsterdam, and 72 St. & Broadway & Amsterdam (3 “incidents”). How many more car deaths before the city puts police and cameras and important signage for pedestrians (such as don’t look at your phones, etc., while crossing intersections) and for drivers (such as warnings about hefty fines and also saying the UWS is not the Indy racetrack) at those and maybe other critical UWS intersections. Maybe I should start a blog about them and what is and isn’t being done about them.
Why doesn’t the West Side Rag do some serious, continuing reporting about this important subject?
I agree…the UWS is very dangerous for pedestrians. I have wriiten to the DOT and Helen Rosenthal’s office on numerous occasions about the dangers of certain intersections Even spoke to them on the phone . I GOT NOWHERE! NOWHERE! The folks in Rosenthal’s office are rude and dismissive. The DOT simply doesn’t seem to care.
its unreal the amount of people who look at their phones while crossing the street and in general when walking on the sidewalk..Several months back in the fall I stood on at the se corner of 87th & bway and counted for 1 minute the people that were on there phone, if I remember it was something like 60-something out of like 80-something ….what went wrong with this world?
What does this have to do with this story? There is no indication that the man who was run over was using a phone. Why not let us know how many people you saw wearing pink crossing the street?
Bingo. I have made it a personal policy to smack the phone out of people’s hands when I see them holding up foot traffic or not paying attention, ie. on escalators, stairs, sidewalks, etc.
What kind of reasoning is this? In what world do we live in where we blame the victims getting hit by cars?
It is 100% the drivers operating their vehicles at fault for hitting others. Dont blame people “looking at phones” or “not paying attention”. Do you also blame rape victims for “asking for it” by dressing inappropriately?
And let me do some predicting the future. Despite the fact that it was raining and the car should have slowed down, and should have carefully looked to ensure he didnt hit anyone, the NYPD will maintain that there is “no criminality suspected.”
Debbie,
With respect, I drive and take cabs in our neighborhood all the time and I have to tell you that there is no degree of driver alertness that can prevent one getting hit when the person suddenly and purposefully steps out mid-block from behind that FedEx truck on WEA to hail a cab.
I see this all the time. It scares the wits of you.
Pedestrians have the right to be safe in the crosswalk when crossing with the light.
“crossing WITH the light” (emphasis mine) is THE key phrase here.
Discouragingly, the UWS is the capital of crossing against the light, in or out of the crosswalk, sometimes mid-block, on the phone or texting, with utter disregard for what is around you. even more terrifying is the frequency with which I see this happening with infants being carried or toddlers in tow.
Of course, drivers must do the work of safely navigating this minefield but it is ludicrous to say that pedestrians bear no responsibility for their own safety. If you cross against the light, you are are being reckless – plain and simple.
One more thing, on Woody’s point that ‘That’s why the city spends millions on PEDESTRIAN signals.’
While I don’t know if this cost is accurate or not, this is a strange argument. The city’s annual budget is $76 billion, and residents (all of us at some point every day are pedestrians) are the ones who pay the income and property taxes that pay for these pedestrian signals, which are installed to indicate our much-needed right to safely cross the street. You make it sound like the city gets the money from some other source than pedestrians. We – the city – also spend BILLIONS each year for a police force that’s supposed to provide equal protection under the law, and investigate the hell out of serious crimes when they occur.
Woody, are you assigning any responsibility to the driver? Do you think he was even ticketed for making a turn without exercising due care?
Like I said above, we don’t know the driver’s record, or if he was on HIS phone, or speeding, or drunk, or high. We just know he went around a turn in a heavily populated Manhattan neighborhood, too fast to react to a pedestrian crossing the street.
This is my biggest peeve: Pedestrians who initiate their crossing while the Don’t Walk signal is already flashing and there is little time left on the countdown timer. Then they yell at drivers that the light is still green despite the fact that the light is for vehicles, NOT pedestrians. That’s why the city spends millions on PEDESTRIAN signals.
And can we shut up already about the UWS being the most dangerous place to cross a street. Does anyone really believe that to be true as if accidents don’t happen anywhere else? In this case, West 62nd St is barely even the UWS.
The last thing I want is police just standing around major UWS intersections because pedestrians can’t figure out that the more chances they take, the more they’ll get hurt by being negligent.
Pedestrians never have enough sidewalk to walk on; they have to take over bike lanes and bus lanes, too, in total disregard for others who are entitled to use those lanes to get to where they’re going. Pedestrians need to start getting ticketed for reckless behavior the same way cars, bicycles, trucks, and buses do.
True.
But you are just as dead whether you had the right of way or not.
You have to look – both ways – even if it is a one way street. Also stay on the curb until the light changes. I have seen two people get hit by cars backing up to reach parking spaces and not see someone standing at the curb behind them or looking in the direction of expected traffic flow trying to hail a cab.
“Pedestrians have the right to be safe in the crosswalk when crossing with the light.”
Yes, as long as they are alert and playing by the rules — NOT playing thumbsies with their electronic pacifiers. The “right to be safe” comes with the responsibility to pay attention.
What? NO. There is NO legal right to drive your car into someone who’s in the crosswalk with the light because you feel they weren’t looking in the right place. Seriously, WTH Cato?!
Notice also there’s no indication at all that this victimised pedestrian was looking at his phone. And we have zero information about what the driver who sent him to the hospital (in critical condition) was doing.
With pedestrians crossing and cars turning with the light simultaneously, this will always be a situation fraught with danger. It’s up to the car drivers to be more cautious and not take turns so fast. Pedestrians also need to always be aware of turning cars and be more aware of their surroundings.
Why should pedestrians “be aware of turning cars” if it’s the drivers’ obligation to yield? Should a pedestrian jump out of the way to save himself if a car approaches? Seniors with walkers can’t jump!
Again, if the police would start ticketing moving violations that I see every single day, there would be a noticeable change. Drivers are so obviously going faster than 25 mph, jumping red lights, trying to beat the pedestrians when turning, and the number of cars that make left turns from Broadway against the red light is alarming. They make the turn and only then do they notice the pedestrians. It’s scary.
Totally Agree!! There is Zero enforcement despite the Mayor’s campaign. I am at the intersection of 62nd and Broadway daily. I see cars speeding down the street at 40 miles an hour routinely. Uh-what happened to the 25 mile an hour speed limit? I am very careful whenever crossing the street. Whether pedestrians are careless or not-in this case the man crossed with the light at a crosswalk. And the truth is he was not safe. Perhaps there should be signs at every traffic light which says, “Cross at Your Own Risk”. Because basically that’s what you do in this city every time your foot sets off the sidewalk. It’s a disgrace because there’s largely a fundamental disrespect for the other guy shared by both drivers and pedestrians in this ‘winner take all” city. And government looks the other way. A young child was killed on the UWS while crossing in the crosswalk with his Father with the light, and the cabbie who killed him was slapped with a $500 fine. Strains the imagination.
Yes. And let’s hold pedestrians and cyclists to an equally high standard by ticketing jaywalking and riding through red lights. Stand on any corner for just 10 minutes … even 96th and Broadway … and you will see this happens far more frequently than cars running reds.
NOTHING traffic-related happens more than cars running red lights. If we had cameras installed at every intersection and automatically ticketed for this offense, we’d eliminate the need to collect personal income tax in NYC.
So tired of the WSR comments blaming the victim of yet another left turn accident. Pedestrians have the right of way at the crosswalk with a green light and cars have an obligation to yield. But drivers often don’t even look to see if there are any pedestrians as they rush through the crosswalk to beat the light. As to pedestrian awareness, sure, we should all be alert for crazy drivers. But often, the cars come up so quickly there is no way to see them. Enforcement for failure to yield is key to prevention, but its not going to happen. Even hitting a pedestrian doesn’t result in a citation.
Remember when Jean Chambers was killed by a reckless driver, NYPD said she was on her phone (as if that absolved any driver of responsibility). She wasn’t. They literally make victim-blaming details up, I think. I would love to see them go after the hit-and-run driver who left Wendy Ruther and her toddler son facing $50,000 in medical bills with the resources and focus they used to track down petty thieves who stole $120 from a taco truck.
“2handicap”. Says he/she smacks the phones out of anyone’s hands whom he perceives is impeding flow??? Lunatic!!!
It’s amazing the pedestrian blaming that goes on here. This driver should be arrested and his license should go in the shredder.
I’ll say it again. If you drive and kill people in 1) your own car or 2) in another car, you get charged with manslaughter. If you kill a pedestrian in a crosswalk, it’s a desk ticket.
Change the law!
supposedly the weather was horrendous and played a major role in this tragic accident. am part of extended family & unfortunately victim is in a coma
Very sad, hopefully this person will pull through.
I do not know how to drive (native New Yorker) but it seems to me that most drivers are pretty careful – but a certain percentage of drivers are not and the consequences can be deadly. IMO traffic officers at very busy locations would be helpful.
Development, “destination” shopping (Trader Joe’s, Apple etc) and online shopping/instant delivery (Fresh Direct, Amazon etc) have increased the number of pedestrians and the number of vehicles on the UWS. This is part of the issue and is rarely discussed.
There are also more and more cyclists who disregard lights, adding to the mix.
And on the UWS there also seem to be more and more pedestrians who themselves purposely disregard traffic and incredibly walk directly into moving traffic! (Even affluent-looking mothers pushing strollers)
Or pedestrians walking obliviously while checking their phones. Or stand in the street while traffic is moving, blocking buses coming into bus stops. Pedestrians need to be careful for their own well-being
Maybe there should be a 4 way cross with all lights red then there would not be any cars racing for the turn. I live on this block and most drivers think they have the right of way. Almost every time I cross in this intersection I have to yield to turning automobiles and also the bikes that are blowing the red light.
In DC they use cameras that detect failure to yield. It’s needed here more than in DC…
Perhaps the best comment in the thread so far is #8, by LS
Below is a list of the other posts that I find worthy of commendation. (I would up-vote them if such a feature existed.)
Author: Simple Post # and/or other identifier*:
Paris Wyome 1
joe Reply to 1
Kenneth #comment-268776
eric #comment-268786
Woody #comment-268811
DMH Reply to above comment by Woody
Eric #comment-268792 (Reply to comment just above it, by Debbie)
BZ #comment-268784
Marci 3
Eric, Saving Grace Replies to #3, above, by Marci
Sue 4
joey 7
Chris 9 and the reply to it by Tyson White
*Append “#comment-xyxyxyx” to the base URL for the page in order to jump directly to the specified comment. Example of such a full URL:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2015/06/02/man-in-critical-condition-after-being-hit-by-van-on-broadway#comment-268786
Everyone needs to take some personal responsibility here! Not only drivers but pedestrians as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WSR – if I’m not mistaken, West 62nd Street runs westbound. From the pictures it looks like the van was traveling west on 62nd and made a left turn on Broadway, striking Mr Grun in the crosswalk in front of TD Bank on the corner?
It’s hard to imagine the TD Bank or another security camera didn’t capture this on video. Hopefully NYPD is running this down as part of the investigation.
Eric wrote:
I have seen this many times now with older children who were being led by adults (presumably parents in most cases) who were doing the things you described and even walking through traffic. Besides the obvious danger that this places these youngsters into, such behavior sets a terrible example for them. This is true for any adults, all the more so parents.
Perhaps The West Side Rag would consider initiating a regular feature for photos of such incidents would be posted in the hopes of deterring the reckless and irresponsible behaviors under discussion. Readers would be encouraged to keep alert for opportunities to capture such scenes.
I have yet to capture a photo of such an incident myself but should such an opportunity present itself to me, I intend to avail myself of it. I do not consider this a contradiction to what I wrote at my web site about being sensitive to the possibility of capturing photographs of people that could cause them shame or other discomfort and doing my best to avoid such an occurrence. In the case of photographing reckless and irresponsible behavior by individuals (behavior that that places not only themselves at risk but others as well) I feel that the potential public good that could come of doing so (i.e., deterring said behavior and promoting safety) would outweigh any ethical concerns of shaming the subjects.
He has died. https://jpupdates.com/2015/06/04/bde-jewish-man-dies-three-days-after-being-struck-by-van-on-upper-west-side/