personal injury nyc

Published on: July 27, 2020

Pick-up truck plows into NYC restaurant’s outdoor seating area injuring several

Several people were injured in a pickup truck accident in New York City last week . The crash occurred in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NYC. The driver of a Ford pick up truck crashed into the barriers of an outdoor dining areas erected on Fifth Avenue near 41st Street by L’Wren restaurant (see Google map Picture on the left). “Open Restaurants”, the city’s initiative to expand dining area into the street to reduce the risk of covid-19 propagation is allowing restaurants to create outdoors dining area on parking spaces. As a result cars are driving right on the side of people having food and drinks. Protective barriers are mandatory, however in the case of the accident that occurred at L’Wren restaurant, the 5000-pound pick up truck knocked them down onto the floor. 3 patrons were injured and taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries. A mother just had the time to scoop her two kids away to prevent them from being injured. The scene was really scary according to witnesses and it could have been much worse. The driver of the pickup truck stayed at the scene of the accident. The police found that he was unlicensed and he was issued a summon for driving without a license and let go. Read more in Street Blog.

This is the second time that a vehicle plows into the outdoor area of a restaurant in New York City

On July 13, a driver made a mistake and press on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal and crashed into the outdoor seating of 12 Corazones Restaurant and bar on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. A waitress and 4 customers were injured and hospitalized after the car jumped the sidewalk and crashed into the restaurant at full speed destroying not only the seating area but also the indoor structure of the establishment. (see video here).

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Published on: July 27, 2020

3 women and a young girl critically injured in NYC apartment fire

By GGCRBHS&M

An overloaded power strip might have been the cause of a gigantic fire in a New York City residential building that caused 4 people to be critically injured. The fire occurred early last Friday around 12:15 am in a residential building located on 35th Ave near Rowan Street in Flushing, Queens, NYC. When the firefighters arrived they were able to pull a 9 year old girl, a 24 year old woman, a 32 year old woman and a 56 year old woman from their bedrooms. They were all unconscious and required CPR. All 4 were rushed to the hospital with critical injuries. The young girl suffered smoke inhalation while the 3 women were treated for burn injuries and smoke inhalation. The firefighter also saved a small hamster that is now in the hands of the Animal Care Center of New York City. Four fire fighters also suffered minor injuries while combating the fire and were also brought to the hospital to be treated.

According to preliminary investigations by the FDNY Fire Marshals, the inferno started on the first floor and might have been caused by a bad power strip to which an air conditioning unit was plugged into

Multiple extension cords plugged in with multiple devices might have overload the outlet and sparked the fire that quickly propagated to the entire two story building. The fire marshals didn’t mention if smoke alarms were installed in the apartments or not. In New York, the law requires that all apartments be equipped with smoke alarms. They might not have been installed or might not have been working proprely. Someone was seen on video throwing something at the home and investigators determined it was a good Samaritan trying to alert people inside that their house was on fire.

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Published on: July 23, 2020

NYC Auto Accident Fatalities at their highest since June 2016

By GGCRBHS&M

29 people including 4 cyclists and 9 pedestrians died in crashes in New York City last June. While truck and bus accidents remain lower than usual, reckless car driving and speeding continue to be a cause of many injuries and deaths.

After dipping to a record low of 5 deaths during the Covid-19 lock-down, traffic fatalities peaked to 29 in June. Since Vision Zero started in 2014, this is a record high number of fatalities that was only reached once previously in June 2016. Injuries were on the rise too in June compared to the previous months of May and April but not as dramatically as the fatalities. The total number of accidents increased as well. One of the main reasons why the total number of accidents dipped so dramatically is because since last March the NYPD doesn’t dispatch officers anymore at the scene of minor accidents. As a result the big drop observed since March is not only related to the Covid-19 crisis but also to the the fact there are no more NYPD reports for minor accidents.

New York traffic accident fatalities were on the rise for all categories of road users. 11 motorists, 5 passengers, 4 cyclists and 9 pedestrians died last June compared to respectively 7, 0, 2 and 2 during the previous month and 6, 3, 3, 8 in June 2019. Many of these fatalities are related to speed and reckless driving. While the city has slowly started to get back to normal, the traffic is not as heavy as it used to be before the coronavirus crisis and many motorists are driving over the speed limit.

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Published on: July 13, 2020

Two teens, one child dead and several others injured in NYC car accident

By GGCRBHS&M

A tragic car accident resulted in 3 deaths and multiple injuries in New York City last Saturday night as a bunch of local teenagers gathered on a remote area of the Floyd Bennett airfield for some summer antics. Two 16 year old drivers with other young passengers on board crashed into each other while both were effectuating “donuts” on a runway converted into a road at the old Floyd Bennett Field airport.

Both drivers were 16 year old

According to the police report, 16 year old Emil Badalov was behind the wheel of a 2014 Kia Forte with 3 other people in the car: 11 year old Daniel Sidgiyayeva and his sister 18 year old Margarita, Sidgiyayeva as well as another 17 year old boy. Baladov was effectuating “donuts” when a Toyota Camry crashed into them. The Toyota Camry was driven by another 16 year old boy who had two passengers: a 16 year old girl and an 18 year old boy. Baladov and the two Sidgiyayeva kids died while the other passenger is still hospitalized in critical condition. The 3 occupants of the Toyota Camry were all injured and hospitalized. They are in stable condition. No arrest were made.

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Published on: July 7, 2020

Man miraculously escape building collapse in Brooklyn, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

A gym employee miraculously only suffered minor injuries in a building collapse in New York City. The accident occurred last week. The building was under construction for renovations. Last November building inspectors issued 3 violations for “structural cracks and bulging exterior masonry wall”. At the time of the collapse these violations were still open. Additionally, a partial stop work order was issued on June 10 for the same masonry brick wall bulging on the sidewalk with no protection erected around it.

The 3 story building located at the corner of Court Street and Union Street in Carroll Gardens was the home of Body Elite Gym. After the stop order was issued in June, the owners of the gym posted a picture of scaffolding on the sidewalk mentioning the gym was getting an exterior make over and they were looking forward to reopen after the lock-down. The gym was refurbished last year with new equipment.

The building was built 120 years ago according to public records. It was hosting a popular pool hall in the 1960ies. A neighbor who talked to the Daily News said that the building always had a bulge and that he found that very strange. Complaints of structural instabilities have been filed with the DOB for years.

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Published on: June 25, 2020

After seeing a spike of bicycle accident injuries during the coronavirus crisis, the city doubles the number of temporary protected bike lanes

By GGCRBHS&M

Street advocates are predicting an increase in bicycle accidents in New York City as many New Yorkers , including many newbies, are opting to use a bike to commute in the city rather than risking getting infected by the coronavirus in the New York subway. The mayor listened to them and recently announced that the DOT would double the number of temporary protected bike lanes available for cyclists to commute around the city. Nine more miles of temporary protected bike lanes will be added to the other 9 miles already installed last month as part of the “Open Street” initiative.

Additionally another 13 miles of open streets will be added in areas that are heavily affected by the virus.

The additional temporary protected bike lanes will be installed in Queens and in Manhattan

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Published on: April 30, 2020

Record number of fall injuries at NYC constructions sites during the first quarter of 2020

By GGCRBHS&M

1 worker died and 158 others were injured on construction sites in New York City during the first quarter of 2020 compared to respectively 0 and 137 for the same period of 2019. When looking at a 5 year period, the first trimester of 2018 was the worst for New York City construction workers with 170 of them sustaining injuries and 3 of them dying in accidents.

Most accidents resulting in injuries occurred in Manhattan with 96 workers injured, followed by Brooklyn, 35, Queens, 14 and the Bronx, 13. No injuries were reported in Staten Island during the first trimester. With the exception of Staten Island all other boroughs recorded an increase in construction accident injuries during the the first 3 months of this year compared to the same period a year earlier.

Working on construction sites is one of the most dangerous activities in New York and in the US. The Department of Buildings classify injuries in 6 different categories. The largest category is “Other”. Injuries in this category are usually not life threatening or not critical. Many of them are small cuts and lacerations that do not require ambulance transportation or hospitalization. Most of the time a visit to an emergency call center is sufficient to treat the injury. It is also rare that a safety violation is issued after these types of injuries. The second largest category of NYC construction accident injuries are injuries related to falls. Falls often result in serious injuries. An ambulance is often called and workers end up most of the time at the hospital after a fall. Most fall injuries could be prevented if workers were fully protected. During the first quarter of 2020, 45 hart hats were injured in falls in New York. This is the highest number of fall injuries recorded during the first quarter over the last 5 years. Another very common cause of injuries is when material fell onto workers. 12 workers were injured in that manner during the first three months of the year compared to respectively 22, 21, 23 and 10 during the same period of 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. 6 people were also injured in scaffolds accidents and 2 sustained injuries related to mechanical construction equipment.

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Published on: April 27, 2020

4 people dead and two seriously injured in NYC car accidents related to speed

By GGCRBHS&M

Speeding cars caused 3 fatal car accidents in New York City this weekend. A speeding driver lost control of his vehicle in the Bronx and killed himself and his passenger. A thief who stole a car ran a red light in Staten Island and crashed into another car killing one of the occupants and seriously injuring the other. Drag racing cars killed a NYPD cop on his bike (see previous blog).

Speeding Mercedes Driver crashes into a pillar on Bruckner Boulevard

32 year old Gasper Vallejo who was visiting New York from Miami was speeding on Brucker Boulveard in his 2016 Mercedez Benz around 3.35 am on Sunday. 2 other passengers were in the car: a 22 year old woman and a 25 year old woman. As the car was speeding on Bruckner Boulevard by the elevated Bruckener Expressway, Vallejo lost control of his vehicle and hit a pillar. The impact was so intense that the car broke apart and all 3 passengers were ejected from the vehicle onto the pavement. Vallejo died at the scene of the accident. Both passengers were still alive when the EMS arrived. They were rushed to the hospital. The 22 year old died at the hospital and the 25 year old is in critical condition. (read more in the Daily News)

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Published on: March 30, 2020

NYC DOT to add temporary bike paths in effort to reduce bicycle accidents

By GGCRBHS&M

After a rise of almost 50% of injuries caused by bicycle accidents in New York City between March 2nd and March 9, the New York DOT created two temporary bike lanes in Manhattan and in Brooklyn. The new bike lanes have been installed in the East of Manhattan and the South of Brooklyn where many of the accidents reported at the beginning of this month occurred.

The creation of the temporary bike lines takes place at a time during which the Covid-19 crisis has lead to a significant decrease in car traffic and a boom in bike traffic

Between March 1st and March 11, CitiBike rides increased by 67% compared to the same period the previous year with a total of 517,768 trips compared to 310,132. The bike traffic increased significantly on the four bridges connecting Manhattan with Brooklyn and Queens. The New York Times reports that on March 9, 21,300 bike crossings were reported in one day compared to 14,032 a year before, a 52% increase. The increase in bike traffic resulted in an increase of bicycle accidents injuries all over the city (see previous blog) with many of them occurring near bridge crossings.

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Published on: March 23, 2020

NYC Bicycle accident injuries are surging during the Coronavirus crisis

By GGCRBHS&M

80 people were injured in bicycle accidents in New York City between March 9th and March 15th compared to 56 during the same week last year. This 42.9% increase occurred as more and more New Yorkers make the decision to ride a bike instead of taking the subway during the COVID-19 crisis.

Distracting driving is the number one cause of bicycle accident injuries in New York City

Unfortunately despite significant safety improvements implemented by the Vision Zero program, riding a bike in the city is still dangerous especially for newbies. Among the 80 bicycle accident injuries reported by the NYPD, 38 occurred in Brooklyn, 19 in Manhattan, 11 in the Bronx, 11 in Queens and 1 in Staten Island. Distracted driving and failure to yield were the most common causes of injuries with 33 accidents caused by distracted drivers and 15 caused by failures to yield.

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