Update, Sunday, July 28, 8:05 a.m.:
On Saturday, July 27, at 2:34 a.m., a 70-year-old man, driving west on West 73rd Street in a white van, collided with an “unidentified driver of a Lincoln,” an NYPD detective told West Side Rag. “The Lincoln collided with a DOT [Department of Transportation] box, benches, and a light pole.” The driver of the Lincoln left the scene before police arrived. The driver of the white van had minor injuries, and was taken to Mount Sinai West hospital in stable condition. The investigation is ongoing.
By Gus Saltonstall
Multiple benches were badly damaged along Riverside Drive at some point Friday night or early Saturday morning near West 73rd Street and Riverside Drive.
“It looks like either accidentally or deliberately a car careened off the road last night and into the park, maybe thinking you would make a right turn,” a tipster emailed West Side Rag. “Took out one bench completely and heavily damaged another. There is debris everywhere. Hopefully no on was hurt.”
NYPD did not have any information about the incident as of Saturday at noon, with a spokesperson telling the Rag that the 20th Precinct hadn’t received a report on it.
There were car parts found among the chunks of bench debris.
West Side Rag will update this story when more details can be confirmed.
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Tried to report o 311 they didn’t apparently pass on the info to nypd. Lame
Maybe the property damage report is being processed by the Parks Dept. But you’d think for this big an incident they’d be asking for some surveillance video from nearby buildings to see if they could get a license plate! Whew.
How do you know they didn’t? I think the NYPD knows what to do without our telling them.
I would be curious to know what the 311 ticket resolution states.
I will look it up later, when I get some time.
Did you use the online 311 or by telephone.? I’ve had 100% response from the police via 311….sometimes within minutes. Just getting through the 311 telephone operator takes way too long.
311 is excellent in responding to and handling all matters. At the West 71st Street Block Association, we have had enormous success in having 311 look into all our complaints on a wide variety of issues. They always funnel the matter to the appropriate agency and give us a report number and a written follow-up via text or email within a few days or weeks at the most.
Just curious, but if you wanted the police to be notified then why didn’t you call 911 directly?
911 is for emergencies. I’m thinking the benches weren’t in a huge rush to get to the emergency room.
Then apparently there was no reason at all for the police to be notified.
A car crash is still a potential crime and something the police should know about. Surely you realize there’s a difference between emergencies and the ordinary reporting of an incident.
It’s hard to believe a car could do that kind of damage and not leave debris.
It did leave debris. Those black plastic pieces you see are almost certainly from a car.
Whoever owns the benches, such as the Parks Department must make a report if they choose. The Police won’t take a criminal complaint from random people who call to report a past crime, of which there are not involved.
That’s nowhere near the truth and I’m shocked this comment made it past the moderators.
Anyone can report a crime. If NYPD don’t act on the report, they’re violating their own manual of rules.
WSR, you need to make certain lies about public services are not disseminated on a news site. Otherwise, you’re abdicating your role as a news organization
If you read OPPO’s comment, it clearly says “criminal complaint”. This was property damage.
If true this is astonishing (and unacceptable). Any crime that has happened hours before would be a “past crime”. Much of police work falls into this category. With all due respect, I think this is an example of police ignoring an incident that results in paperwork and no arrest. We need to recalibrate the incentives for police promotion if we want things like this to be investigated and punished.
Wow! Those benches have been there for decades and are iconic in design. Wonder if Parks has exact replacements.
They don’t look that hard to repair. The vertical castings with the big loops would be the hardest parts to replace and they look mostly undamaged. They’re joined by what looks like metal rods and straps that are widely available. And the wooden slats are pretty much a maintenance item anyway.
Nice! Since the PD doesn’t care, some wealthy car owner should take the rest of them out as well! Why not?
Why would you make assumptions?
It’s not that the NYPD doesn’t care it has to be officially reported the parks Department will probably report it Monday.
Why isn’t a citizen report an official report?
Not exactly an emergency.
Wow – this sort of damage being done to our parks is a travesty. Drivers are out of control.
I happened to be in the park earlier this evening (Sat.) and a bunch of people were standing around and observing the badly the rows of damaged benches, which are right at the intersection of 73rd St. and Riverside Dr. One of the people there was taking photos of the benches and we started chatting. The woman apparently lives close by and told me the loud crash awakened her at 2am and being alarmed, she immediately called 911. The police arrived quickly and she noticed that the driver appeared to be an elderly man who fortunately seemed ok, though an ambulance came. He might have been having a medical problem and looked like he was driving a van from what she could see in the dark. Of course, I can’t confirm or corroborate any of this information, but it seems to be pretty believable. I’m sure the 20th Pct. will have more information on the situation.
Thanks for your thoughtful post, Gretchen. Even though you can’t confirm the neighbor’s account, it’s a reasonable clue to what might have happened. Better than a lot of speculation about random vandalism or whatever. Looking forward to hearing more from the Precinct.
This article about the benches doesn’t sit well with me.
Someone deserves a bench warrant.
Saw the destroyed park benches at Riverside and 73rd a little while ago. Very odd. Not clear how the car got into and out of the park.
Two vehicles were involved in an accede y where one was taken to the hosptial , this is a major accident!! Not just property damage.
Quite obvious this is must’ve been a DWI considering the time of day.
I think DMV should put a top on issuing drivers license to senior citizens over the age of 65.
Not obvious at all. It might have been a heart attack. Or a vehicle malfunction. Or an unclear exit sign. Or or or.
Without more information from the police you have no way of knowing what “must have been.” As for your suggestion that all drivers over 65 should have their licenses revoked, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has indicated that drivers aged 16-34 are involved in more accidents than any other age group. Not the oldsters who tend to drive more cautiously and to avoid driving under bad (dark, rainy) conditions.
I hope the care insurance companies pay for all this damage.
A security camera on a nearby building caught the action and I was just shown the video. In it a white van crosses 73rd Street at about 1:34 a.m. — it doesn’t turn or stop and you see no brake light applied . Maybe the driver was asleep at the wheel? But he drives straight across Riverside and smashes into the benches and crashes into a Mercedes, owned by a guy in the neighborhood, who has asked for the video. Interestingly, the police have not inquired nor asked for their security footage.
On the subject of Riverside Drive – Sunday afternoon ( yesterday) I saw a couple of women setting up crab traps and throwing them in the river — at Pier i Cafe off 68th street. I stayed to watch what was going on. There were about 12 traps hanging from the deck fencing that lines up the pier. The ladies collected the blue claw crabs from the traps, wrapped them in paper and later placed them on a cooler. As I was leaving a man driving a moped with storage space, which I am not sure was supposed to be on the bike lane, came to pick up the crabs in the cooler. Wondering if anybody knows – Is this a legal practice ? it didn’t look kosher to me 🙂
Doesn’t look legal from https://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/fishing.
“Fishing Traps: Use of traps to catch fish and/or crustaceans is not allowed in areas under NYC Parks jurisdiction.” Specifically prohibited by 56 RCNY §1-05 Regulated Uses.
Thank you Mark I will look into it.
I reported the incident it will take aprox 3 wks for NYC Parks to look into it. Again thank you !
Blue Crab in the Hudson River chemical warnings are PCBs, Cadmium.
Seems like they are consuming them, I hope they are not finding their way to a restaurant.
Agree my concern was also about the unknown beneficiary ?!
Why did the chicken cross the road? To escape the religious zealot who owns Chick-fil-A.