Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Tagged with wrongful death NYC

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matthew vo nohlen died in a NYC bicycle accidentLast year Matthew Von Ohlen was riding his bike when he was intentionally hit by a driver who left him dying at the scene of the accident. The accident occurred on July 2nd 2016 on the Grand Street bike lane in East Williamsburg. Brooklyn, NYC.  Von Ohlen was heading home after a night shift at work in Manhattan. Surveillance video of the accident show Von Ohlen riding in the designated bike lane and being intentionally struck by a car. The video clearly shows the car slowing down and moving into the bike lane to strike him. The bicyclist fell, the car ran over him and then dragged him 10 to 20 feet before speeding away. The  car driver was later identified as 56 year old Juan Maldonado,a  South Williamsburg resident. He was arrested by the police.

During an 11-day trial , Maldonado appeared in a courtroom filled with friends and family members of Matthew Von Ohlen. On Monday the jury delivered the verdict after 3 hours of deliberation. Maldonado was found guilty of manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal crash, and reckless driving.  Maldonado will appear in Court again on October 18 when he may be sentenced for up to 15 years in prison.

Read more in DNA Info

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3 people died and 16 suffered injury in a bus accident that occurred in Queens, NYC, last week. Around 6:00 am last Monday, 49-year-old Raymond Mong was driving an empty charter bus owned by the Dahlia tour company when he ran a red light and crashed into a MTA bus in Flushing. The crash occurred at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Main Street.  Footage from a security camera shows the Dahlia bus recklessly speeding through the intersection and crashing into the MTA bus which was making a right turn from Main street onto Northern Boulevard.

The bus driver, Raymond Mong, died in the accident as well as a pedestrian (68 year old Henry Wdowiak) and a MTA bus rider (55 year old Gregory Liljefors). Among the 16 other people who were injured in the accident, five of them were still hospitalized with 3 of them in critical condition.  According to the most recent results of the investigation,  Mong drove through the intersection at a speed of 58 mph. The maximum speed limit in the city is 25 mph.

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location of Bronx fatal truck accident

A pedestrian was fatally hit by a box truck in New York City yesterday morning. The 60 year old man was crossing the intersection of Webster Avenue and East 193rd Street around 7:12 am when he was struck by a box truck. According to the police, the truck driver was waiting for the light at the intersection. When the light turned green he accelerated and fatally hit the pedestrian. He remained at the scene of the accident and wasn’t arrested. The pedestrian died at the scene of the accident. The police are still investigating.

The intersection is very large and very dangerous with a history of accidents. According to the Vision Zero map, since 2009, 6 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and 26 motorists were injured in accidents at this spot.  In 2009, 1 pedestrian, 1 cyclists and 4 motorists were injured in accidents at this location. In 2010, another pedestrian was injured. In 2011, 9 motorists, 1 cyclist and 2 pedestrians suffered personal injury at this dangerous intersection. In 2012, again 2 pedestrians, 1 cyclist and 2 motorists were injured. In 2014, 2 motorists were injured. Another motorist and a pedestrian were injured in 2015. Last year an additional pedestrian was hurt as well as 3 motorists. So far this year 5 motorists were injured in crashes at this particular location.

Picture: Google Maps

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FDNY fighting NYC home fireA couple died and their 17 year old daughter was injured in a home fire in Brooklyn, NYC. 61 year old Howard Gluck and 59 year old Evelyn Gluck as well as their 17 year old daughter were sleeping in their two-story home located on 44th Street between Fort Hamilton Parkway and 12th Avenue  in Borough Park, when a fire broke out on the first floor and spread to the second floor around 3:45 am yesterday morning. The FDNY told the media that the fire had probably been going for a while until someone noticed it and called 911. By the time the firefighters arrived, the fire had already engulfed the stairwells.  The couple was found unconscious in a back bedroom on the second floor of the house. They were rushed to the hospital but it was too late and they both passed away. Their daughter was found on the roof of the porch and rescued by the firefighters. She suffered injury and was also transported to the hospital to be treated. She is now in stable condition. The daughter survived because she was able to climb out to a first floor landing before being rescued by the firefighters.

The Glucks had been living in their house for nearly 40 years. They were the first Jewish family to move into the neighborhood and beloved members of a tight knit community. Everybody was in shock yesterday in the neighborhood. Maureen Weiner, who had been living in the house next to them for almost 40 years as well was devastated by the news. She said they were the nicest people.

138 firefighters were called to the rescue to keep the blaze under control and make sure it didn’t spread to neighboring houses. 3 firefighters also suffered minor injury in the exercise of their duty. According to the fire marshals the fire was accidental and caused by “careless cooking/grill”.  There were no smoke detectors installed in the house.

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aerial view of drunk driving accident locationA man died in an accident after a drunk driver lost control of his SUV and crashed into a parked backhoe on a NYC highway. The man who died was identified as Abe Prior, a 30-year-old resident of Norwalk, Connecticut. He was among the 3 passengers of a car driven by 30-year-old Jorge Viteri, also from Norwalk, Connecticut. Police said Viteri was  intoxicated at the time of the accident. He is now in custody. The accident occurred yesterday night around 6:30 pm on the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx, NYC.  The SUV was heading North. As the SUV approached exit 7 C, the driver tried to change lanes. He hit a barrier and crashed into a large construction vehicle that was parked on the white lined center median between the Bruckner Expressway and the Throgs Neck Expressway (see picture on the left) . The impact was intense. All occupants were injured and rushed to the hospital. Abe Prior didn’t survive and died from his injuries while at the hospital. The two other passengers were expected to survive. The driver only suffered minor injuries and was arrested by the police. We question why such a large construction vehicle was left parked on the center median on a weekend. An accident such as this should have been anticipated. Read more on CBS News .

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accident sceneA limo driver died after his car hit a tow truck on a Bronx Highway.  His passenger miraculously only suffered minor injuries. 45-year-old Leonel Paulino was driving west on the Cross Bronx Expressway. He was speeding and slammed into an idle tow truck which was helping another motorist.  He suffered massive head trauma and died at the scene of the accident. Amber Normington from Yonkers was seated in the back seat when the accident occurred. Miraculously, she only suffered minor injuries. The driver of the tow truck as well as the motorist who was being helped were also fine.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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96 people died and 27,923 suffered personal injuries in 110,992 motor vehicle accidents in New York City during the first 6 months of 2017 based on the most recent statistics released by the NYPD.

This is the first time that the number of people dying in NYC traffic accidents during the first six months of the year is below 100.  In 2013, before Mayor de Blasio launched Vision Zero, 121 people died in auto accidents in the city during the same period. Vision Zero was launched at the beginning of 2014 and since then the total number of people dying in NYC crashes slowly decreased from 110 during the first semester of 2014 to 107 during the first semester of 2015 and the first semester of 2016. It dropped to 96 for the same period of 2017. Multiple Vision Zero measures such as the reduction of the city speed limit to 25 mph as well as the installation of cameras may have contributed to this decline in fatal crashes.

traffic accident deaths in NYC for the first semester of 2013 to 2017
The decrease in traffic deaths in New York City occurred despite a significant increase in crashes over the last 4 years. In 2013, 99,474 crashes were reported to the NYPD during the first semester. This number increased steadily to 100,834 in 2014 and 104,636 in 2015. It then jumped to 111,588 in 2016. It decreased slightly during the first six months of this year to stabilize at 110,992. Distracted driving is the most common factor in these accidents.

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accident sceneA pedestrian died in a Bronx car accident  on Friday afternoon. The 77 year old man was trying to cross the Hutchinson River Parkway near the Pelham parkway when he was hit by a car. He was rushed to the hospital where he died. The driver who hit him stayed at the scene of the accident. He wasn’t charged. Read more in the NY Daily News

Also in the Bronx during the weekend 4 people were injured in a car accident related to speed.  Around 6 AM on Sunday morning the driver of a black sedan lost control of his vehicle and crashed into several pillars before hitting another car.  The accident occurred near Sands Place  in Middletown, Pelham Bay. It is a miracle that nobody died according to the NY Daily News

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bicycle garbage truck accident locationA garbage truck fatally hit a bicyclist in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NYC early Saturday morning. The driver didn’t stop.  27-year-old Neftaly Ramirez had just finished his shift at a Brooklyn Pizzeria. He was biking home to the Lower East Side around 12:30 am. As he was riding on Franklin Street near Noble Street in Greenpoint, a garbage truck driving South on Franklin hit him. The garbage truck driver continued on his way leaving the bicyclist dying in the street behind him. The investigation is still ongoing and the police haven’t apprehended the truck driver yet. Therefore it is still unclear if the driver was aware that he hit someone. Ramirez was found by the police with trauma all over his body. He was pronounced dead by EMS soon after their arrival at the scene of the accident.

Franklin Ave in Greeenpoint is a link between Kent Ave and the Pulaski bridge. It is narrow but busy with traffic day and night. According to a local resident, trucks are “flying down the street all night”. There is a shared bike and motor vehicle lane that is completely unprotected (see picture). A large electronic sign was installed at the location of the accident  by the police to ask potential witnesses to report information. Detectives were also looking for potential footage from security cameras. So far the police said that the truck that hit Ramirez was green with white with yellow lettering. It was most probably a private garbage truck. Private dump trucks are among the most dangerous vehicles for pedestrians and bicyclists. They have the highest NYC pedestrian-kill rate per mile driven. One may hope that the police may finally launch a safety initiative directed at private garbage trucks but that is not what happening. The police were seen on Sunday afternoon ticketing bicyclists on Franklin Ave.

Read more in Streetblog

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accident sceneTwo people died and several others were injured in a NYC car accident caused by a drunk driver who was speeding. 34-year-old Andrew Shakespeare was driving back from a wedding on Sunday morning. He had 4 other passengers in his car. He was allegedly drunk and was speeding on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, NYC. As he approached the 188th street exit, Shakespeare changed lanes and side-wiped a Nissan Sentra driven by a 59-year-old woman. He then lost control of his BMW X5 SUV and careened into a Nissan Rogue driven by a 52-year-old man. Both cars crashed into the center guard rail. A 38-year-old woman driving a Mercedes was then struck by the BMW despite trying to swerve to avoid hitting the two cars. The impact sent her car into trees on the side of the road and back rolling over on the road.

The BMW front passenger, 34-year-old Layon Campbell was transported to the hospital with critical head and body injury. He was pronounced dead upon his arrival. 16-year-old Akeam Grant who was sitting on the rear right seat of the BMW died at the scene of the accident. The two other passengers, a 21-year-old and a 16-year-old survived. One of them fractured his pelvis and his right arm. The other lacerated his right arm. They were both transported to a hospital to be treated.

Among the people in the 3 other cars involved in the crash, both drivers of the Nissans were taken to the hospital for neck and back injuries but were listed in stable condition. The two passengers of the Nissan Rogue were also rushed to the hospital. The front passenger, a 50-year-old man injured his right leg. The rear passenger, a 63-year-old man fractured his rib and his neck. He also suffered from neck and back pain. Both passengers are in stable condition. The Mercedes-Benz driver was also transported to the hospital to be treated for pain in her right shoulder.