Officials say preliminary investigations showed the Baldor Express transport truck was headed north toward East 61st Street when a 32-year-old male passenger rammed the truck at 9:20 a.m.
Then the 66-year-old truck driver suddenly moved ahead.
The vehicle hit the sidewalk, hit a fire hydrant, hit a cyclist on the road, and then hit a pedestrian standing on the sidewalk, which police later called Torino Rosendo Morales, 37, more Identified as Delfino Eduardo Maceda, 46.
The 66-year-old truck driver stopped at the scene, telling detectives that the gas pedal was stuck while he was turning.
He was taken to the police station for questioning, but no case has been registered so far.
The victims were taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where they both died.
The 32-year-old truck passenger was taken to New York Presbyterian for minor injuries.
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Morales was a bicycle delivery man, and other delivery riders gathered at the scene.
The accident also shocked the entire New York City biking community.
“Drivers are driving more recklessly than ever,” said cyclist Tracy Hinder. “It’s really scary to be a cyclist in the city. It’s gotten scary over the past year.”
Hurdle social ride.
“There are times when I am almost thrown off the road or side swiped by angry drivers,” she said. “And sometimes I become invisible to drivers.”
The accident is being investigated, but eyewitnesses pulled over a truck and blocked the same bike lane in which the delivery cyclist was hit by a Baldor truck.
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“I hope the incoming mayor, Mayor Adams, can really do something about this and make the city safer for cyclists and pedestrians,” Hinder said.
A search of the truck’s violation history found that it is based in the Bronx and has had 270 violations over the past two years. Almost all of them are parking violations involving parking at crosswalks and bike lanes.
At least 265 people, including at least 14 delivery workers, have been killed in traffic accidents so far in 2021, the highest in the past eight years, according to Transportation Alternatives.
“We are saddened and outraged that traffic violence has killed two more New Yorkers this holiday season,” said executive director Danny Harris. “On behalf of Transportation Alternatives, we send our condolences to the families of those killed today in the Upper East Side, and to Los Deliveristas Unidos, who have lost another essential member of their community to traffic violence. One of the families As these preventable accidents destroy groups forever, we need our leaders to fast-track proven safety measures, especially on known and dangerous corridors like Third Avenue. Including redesigning the streets, implementing NYC 25×25, and reducing our reliance on lethal, oversized trucks that have no place on congested city streets… we have deadly traffic violence There are tools to make ends meet. We cannot let another eight years go by without taking all necessary steps to reach Vision Zero.
Third Avenue was closed for testing between East 61st and East 62nd Streets, but has since reopened.
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