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

Published on:

Staten Island Pedestrian accident locationA pedestrian died in New York City on Sunday morning. He was hit by a drunk driver around 4:40 am. 32 year old David Bloomer, a father of four, was crossing Tompkins Ave at Broad St. in Stapleton, Staten Island, NYC when he was struck by a car. The driver tried to speed off but one of David’s cousins rallied a group of people to run after him. They were able to catch him a block away from the accident. The driver, identified as 25 year old, John Rudder was allegedly drunk.

During the accident, Rudder hit Bloomer so violently that the pedestrian went flying into the air and crashed through the windshield of a jeep that was parked nearby. The firefighters had to remove the roof of the jeep to try to save him. Unfortunately Bloomer died at the scene of the accident.

Bloomer left behind him 2 children, 17 year old Charlie Perez, 8 year old Mikayla Papon and 2 stepdaughters, 14 year old and 6 year old Yolanda and Dakota Makins.  He was a DJ and a beloved member of the Stapleton Community.

Published on:

12 people died and 4,578 were injured in traffic accidents in New York City in April. Among the fatalities were 7 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and 2 motor vehicle passengers. The number of fatalities recorded last April is the lowest number of traffic fatalities ever recorded in April since Vision Zero started. Last year during the same month 20 people died in NYC motor vehicle accidents. In 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, there were respectively 14, 19, 21 and 15 fatalities.

Traffic fatalities NYC April 2018
Sadly, the number of people injured in accidents in the city was higher in April 2018 than it was in April 2017. It wasn’t as high as in 2016 but it was higher than in 2014 and 2015 and also back at the level where it was before Vision Zero was implemented.  While pedestrians and cyclists account for most deaths, motorists and passengers sustain most of the injuries.Motor vehcile accident injuries New York City April 2018

Motorists injuries continue to be on an ascending trend with a record number of 2,117 motorists injured last April compared to respectively, 1,922, 2,061, 1,363, 1,305 and 1,599 in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Distracted driving might be one of the reasons why this number continues to increase.

Published on:

A cyclist died after he was doored by a car in Queens, NYC, and ended up under the wheels of a truck. The accident occurred yesterday afternoon in Long Island City. The 45 year old man was riding his bike North on 21st Street near 46th Avenue when the passenger of a car parked in the street suddenly opened his door and hit him. The impact sent the cyclist flying  in the middle of the street in front of a box truck. The  truck driver didn’t have the time to stop and ran over him. The man was transported to the hospital in serious condition. He later died from his injuries The car driver and the truck driver stayed at the scene of the accident. The truck driver was taken into custody after the police found that he didn’t have a valid license.

Read more on the CBS New York website

Published on:

accident sceneSadly NYC motorcycle accidents are always increasing when the warm days come back in the city.  Over the last few days two people died in two separate motorcycle accidents in New York City.

Last Saturday night a motorcyclist was killed after he collided with a minivan in Queens. The accident occurred a little bit after 10:14 pm at the intersection of 221st Street and 113th Drive in Cambria Heights. The motorcyclist who was travelling west on 113th Drive crashed into the passenger door of a minivan travelling North on 221st Street. The motorcyclist was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He later died from his injuries. The 55 year old van driver stayed at the scene of the accident. He suffered minor injury. (Read more in Pix11)

Another motorcyclist died in Brooklyn. 27 year old Luimy Acosta-Collado was riding a dirt bike on Hancock Street in Bushwick on Monday night around 10:50 pm when he struck a car that was doubled parked. He landed on his back and was pinned under a SUV. The bike continued on its way without its driver and crashed into another car. Luimy just lived a half block away. Right after the accident occurred, neighbors as well as his wife ran in the street to try to help him. His wife was frantic and crying. She was saying “please don’t let my husband died”.  The man was rushed to the hospital but he didn’t survive. The driver of the SUV, a 24 year old woman stayed at the scene of the accident. She wasn’t hurt.  As the police arrived to investigate the accident they were unable to find the dirt bike. It was apparently stolen shortly after the accident occurred. The dirt bike that Luimy was riding didn’t belong to him. Dirt bikes are illegal in New York City and neighbors believe that the owner of the bike took it back before it got confiscated. (Read more in the NY Daily News)

Published on:

accident sceneA 20 year old woman was killed in a hit and run car accident last Thursday  in Queens. The driver who hit her and tried to run away was arrested by the police. 19 year old Alfaheed Odesanya was driving North on  Guy R. Brewer Boulevard when he blew a red light at the intersection of Archer Ave. He struck another car driven by a young woman. After he struck the car Odesanya and a passenger abandoned the scene of the accident and tried to run away on foot. He was quickly caught by the police and charged with leaving the scene of a serious crash. The young woman was transported to the hospital in critical conditions. She later died from her injuries

Published on:

ocation of the fatal bus accidentA 7 year old boy on a scooter was fatally struck by a bus in New York City.

The accident occurred Saturday afternoon in the Bronx. 7 year old Shevon Bethea was riding his scooter when a MTA bus  driving south on Webster Ave hit him near the 184th Street intersection. Shevo who lived in Brownsville, Brooklyn, was visiting his dad in Fordham Heights, Bronx. According to his mother, Shevon was a straight A’s Student with a loving and caring personality. “He was always happy” she said.

Shevon’s brother, 10 year old DiShawn , witnessed the accident and he is completely traumatized. According to him, the bus driver ran a red light and dragged the young boy for a block.

Published on:

location of the fatal pedestrian accident BK NYCOn March 5th, Ruthie Ann Blumenstein was crossing the road with Abigail, her 5 year old daughter when a reckless driver struck them (see our previous blog). Abigail died at the scene of the accident and her mother suffered serious injury. At the time of the accident she was 39 weeks pregnant with Sophia Rosemary Wong Blumenstein. On Wednesday our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz who represents Mrs Blumenstein announced that sadly her unborn child had died from the injuries suffered during the crash. “The pain suffered by Ruthie and Jonathan is nearly impossible to fathom,” Mr. Rubinowitz said. “As you might imagine, they are overwhelmed by the sadness of the deaths of their children.”

Ruthie Ann Blumenstein is a Tony-Waward winning actress. The actress and her daughter Abigail were among a group of pedestrians who were crossing the intersection of Fifth Ave and 9th street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when Dorothy Burns ran a red light and erratically plowed into them.  Abigail and 20 month old Joshua Lew died at the scene of the accident. Several pedestrians were injured including the pregnant Ruthie Ann Blumenstein.

Dorthy Burns was recently indicted by a Grand Jury and was charged with manslaughter, assault and criminally negligent homicide (see previous blog).  Burns suffers from multiple sclerosis. Prior to the fatal accident she received 12 driving violations for speeding in school zones and running red lights. Her license is now suspended. It is outrageous that she was still allowed to drive at the time of the accident.

Published on:

In a previous post we mentioned that a pedestrian was fatally struck by a garbage truck belonging to Sanitation Salvage two weeks ago in the Bronx. Leon Clark, a man in his 70ies who was living in Adams Houses was walking on E. 152nd St. near Jackson Ave in Morrisiana when he was fatally struck by a private garbage truck driven by 33 year old Sean Spence. It is the second time in less than 6 months that Spence killed a pedestrian while driving his truck.

On November 7, Spence was driving his truck when he fatally ran over 21 year old Mouctar Diallo, an off-the books employee who was helping him. Diallo was standing on the the steps leading to the passenger’s door when he lost  his grip,  fell under the truck’s rear wheels and died. Spence initially lied to the police and claimed that the victim was a crazy homeless man who tried to jumped on the side of his truck.

Sanitation Salvage has a history of safety violations

Published on:

NYC Traffic fatalities by mode before and after Vision ZeroSince Vision Zero started in 2014, NYC traffic fatalities decreased by 28% while nationally they went up by 15%. According to the Fourth Vision Zero Annual Report that was recently released by the de Blasio Administration, the decline was the strongest in pedestrian deaths. They went down by 45% since the program was launched in 2014.

STREET REDESGIN

Last year, under the Vision Zero umbrella, the city installed 832 additional Leading Pedestrians Intervals (LPI). 24.9 miles of protected bike lanes were built leading to a total of more than 60 miles of protected bike lanes in the City. Left turn calming treatments were placed at 110 intersections. 390 speed bumps were also created all over the five boroughs.

Published on:

Harleen Maggo died in a NYC fire accidentA Queens Village family who was celebrating an upcoming wedding was caught in a massive fire that quickly ravaged their house killing 3 of them and injuring many others. The house located on 211th Street and 93rd Road didn’t seem to have working smoke detectors. 32 year old Harleen Maggo (see picture), a mother of two and her parents Ragvir Kaur-Kainth, 82, and Pyara Kainth, 87  all died in the fire that erupted a little bit before midnight on Saturday night. Harleen’s two children, were also trapped in the fire but were able to be rescued by the firefighters. The 8 year old girl was in critical condition while the 6 year old boy was stable. Seven other people who were also trapped in the fire were transported to the hospital with serious injuries.  Harleen Maggo had been able to escape but she decided to go back in the house on fire to try to save her parents. She never made it back outside. The house was full of wedding guests partying when the fire started. Investigators are still trying to figure out the cause of the fire. Read more in the NY Daily News  Picture source: Facebook

No working smoke alarm either in another NYC fire that erupted 6 hours later