An 83-year-old man attempting to cross Amsterdam Avenue early Friday morning was hit and killed by a postal truck, according to the NYPD. The truck was traveling North on Amsterdam before it hit the man just before 6 a.m., according to an NYPD spokesperson.
The truck was “in the right lane approaching West 95 Street, when the 83-year-old pedestrian was attempting to cross from west to east on Amsterdam Avenue and struck the male causing him to fall on the ground,” according to an NYPD statement.
He was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital on 114th Street where he was pronounced dead, according to an NYPD spokesman. The man’s identity had not been released as of 4 p.m. Friday.
This post has been updated with additional information from the NYPD.
Drivers on Amsterdam can’t make a turn either way on 95th. 95th on the west side of the avenue is eastbound and on the east side it’s westbound. Both sides have “Do Not Enter” signs at Amsterdam.
Why is the traffic set up this way so that half of 95th runs one way and the other half runs the other? Is it because 95th would normally run west but the western portion has to run east for the highway traffic?
Thanks, hopefully we’ll get more info soon to clarify this.
This doesn’t make any sense. There are no turns from Amsterdam onto 95th Street so the driver couldn’t have been turning as you speculate in parentheses. If the pedestrian were crossing 95th and the vehicle traveling on Amsterdam, there is no way for a collision to occur.
Maybe the pedestrian was crossing Amsterdam at 95th Street?
Thanks for the info. Police did indicate that he was crossing 95th but perhaps the info is still preliminary.
A northbound truck could not have been turning – 95th runs east to Amsterdam from Broadway but west to Amsterdam from Columbus.
Some of the most aggressive drivers I’ve seen are USPS drivers. Would not be surprised one bit of it was drivers fault. Poor man, RIP.
I agree. Many USPS and UPS drivers are speed demons. I have complained to our local officials specifically about this problem. No one listens. That may or may not have been the issue here, but the speeding must be addressed.
So sad.
This is a treacherous corner. 95 st is not a through street: it runs both east and west and converges on Amsterdam. In addition, cars getting off the highway drive quickly to turn on Amsterdam- and it feels like pedestrians are an afterthought for many of these drivers-
I would like to hear drivers’ experience with this unexpected and dangerous intersection. As many decades as I have lived and walked in this area, I still often forget that here traffic can come from both the west and the east. It is irrational and out of the pattern. I find myself looking just one way along 95th street only to be frightened by a car making a legal turn onto Amsterdam.
This is sad. So sorry to hear. 🙁
My observation is the USPS trucks are aggressive drivers overall. I have often seen them speeding, cutting other vehicles off and driving recklessly. Do they feel that because they are “government” they are immune to,traffic safety? Poor man. RIP.
Heartbreaking.
I live on Amsterdam and the USPS trucks bomb up the avenue like absolute maniacs. I see it every single day.
It’s devastating that someone lost his life.
Possibly crossing Amsterdam (at) 95th?
On several occasions, I’ve noticed USPS trucks going pretty fast on local streets on the UWS. Too fast.
We need more traffic cameras monitoring traffic on the UWS.
http://dotsignals.org/
Just because drivers aren’t allowed to turn onto 95th St. from Amsterdam doesn’t mean they don’t. It’s remarkable some of the things drivers do…
I live on this block. As people correctly state you cant turn from A-dam either way onto 95th street.
What I expect happened (because I see this all the time) Is that the truck was coming down 95th street and sped up to make the turn onto Amsterdam.
Instead of regulat traffic lights there are yellow arrows which turn red at this intersection. I think many cars seem to treat them as “advisory” rather than mandatory. Cars and truck routinely try and beat the yellow flashing arrow by speeding up.
I imagine this poor fellow stepped out at that point
I never had a problem with UPS drivers. However, USPS trucks fly down Columbus like its the Indy 500. They also honk their extra loud horn all the time. They are a complete menace. Been going on for years. Apparently it seems others here also see the same thing. Hey USPS take note.
I was crossing Columbus last week and heard a woman scream, and as I turned in her direction I felt air rushing past me and something knocked the shopping bag out of my hand. It was a USPS truck, and if that woman hadn’t screamed and I hadn’t stopped and turned, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. So what can pedestrians do to stop this? Obviously it’s been going on for some time and everyone is aware of it but nothing has changed.
Every year on this block!!! At least a couple of deaths. This is getting ridiculous.
A note to all the drivers tearing around the UWS….Please stop running people over!!!
Thank you.
I live on 95th and walked by this morning at 9am and wondered what happened. Very sad news. But thank you for the report.
As someone who considers himself an aggressive driver and usually take the sides of motorists ( because I see how obtuse many pedestrians are when walking about), I can say too,that I am amazed how fast the big postal trucks barrel down Columbus/ ninth avenue in the mornings.
I am an UWSer driver and that is one of the most dangerous intersections for pedestrians because cars are coming from both east and west sides of 95th and Amsterdam. At night the headlights from the other cars makes visibility difficult for drivers on each side. Also if the pedestrian is not a driver they’re not aware of what a flashing yellow arrow means. I once had a man trying to cross with a baby stoller and when i mentioned i had the right of way and he shouldn’t be crossing with a stroller…he thought the flashing arrow was a broken traffic light.
Why does the City spend millions installing and maintaining pedestrian signals if they’re routinely ignored?
It is so interesting after reading the 20 or so comments by local residents that they knew of this as such a dangerous intersection yet our local Council member, and other elected officials could not flag it and take action.
Where is local leadership.
Because pedestrians call every intersection dangerous if they don’t get to cross whenever they want.
Sure, sarcasm is a real solution. Thanks for your input!
I live on this block and find this news very sad, disturbing and confusing. There is no way a pedestrian could be crossing 95 th in either direction and be hit by a vehicle traveling north up Amsterdam. I would like to hear a follow up to find out what actually happened please.
Last summer, I almost got hit by a truck at 104th and Manhattan Ave. There is a stop sign there, I looked before I cross, and out of nowhere, a truck just missed hitting me (running the stop sign), at easily 50 miles an hour. I was in shock. I realized I almost got killed. Since then, I am extra careful and I remind myself to take my time when crossing. Many truck drivers — not just usps / ups, here in the city are speed demons.
Perhaps the issue is that the light pattern has changed at that intersection over the last year (cautionary yellows et al). If he were on the NE corner it’s hard to see the light and what it is indicating to the traffic. I am much younger than 83 and can see the problems this presents. In all events a horrible loss.
It does beg the question as to why 95th changes directions at Amsterdam. I’d imagine it is to alleviate traffic from the West Side Highway but can anyone answer definitively?
Yes. Andrew – I can.
Back in the day, 95th was going to be reconfigured to go 100% eastwards. Local residents complained that there were schools on the street and it was felt that it would be too congested / polluted /dangerous as everyone coming off the west side highway would race up 95th to Central Park before turning uptown or downtown. (likely there would be slow/stationary traffic there permanently rather than anyone “racing” but you get my point)
This configuration allows downtown traffic to go down WEA/ bway and uptown to go up bway or up A dam but diminishes traffic further east.