A 47-year-old man was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest after being struck by a box truck while crossing a street on the Upper East Side in the pounding rain early Saturday morning, NYPD and FDNY officials told Upper East Site.
Investigators say that just before 6:00 am, the Baldor Foods box truck driver was heading southbound on Second Avenue when he slammed into the man crossing at East 82nd Street in Yorkville.
More than an hour later, part of the intersection remained closed by police, who appeared to be waiting out the weather to conduct their investigation. Discarded rubber gloves and the victim’s fedora, soaked by the morning’s punishing rain, lay in the center lane of Second Avenue directly in front of the box truck where the violent collision occurred.
ALSO READ | Your Favorite UES Restaurant on Seamless Probably Does Not Exist
FDNY officials said that paramedics responded to a report of a pedestrian struck in cardiac arrest and rushed the patient to Weill Cornell Medical Center; however, there are no further updates on the man’s condition.
The driver of the Baldor Foods truck remained on the scene, and there are no arrests, police said, adding that NYPD Highway Patrol’s Collision Investigation Squad is leading the probe into the crash.
Upper East Site also observed investigators with the Department of Transportation’s Emergency Response unit taking photos of the box truck at the collision scene.
A review of crash reporting data kept by the City shows that this Upper East Side intersection is particularly perilous; the site of 17 wrecks in the last decade has left eight cyclists, four pedestrians and five drivers injured before Saturday’s collision.
ALSO READ | Central Park’s Most Dangerous Intersection is Near an UES Entrance
Last year, New York City Council Member Julie Menin requested that the Department of Transportation perform reviews on dozens of dangerous Upper East Side intersections; however, Second Avenue at East 82nd Street was missing from the list.
Menin pushed for the reviews following a series of deadly crashes on the UES, including in December 2021 when the driver of another Baldor Foods box truck lost control, mounted the curb and killed two men, a pedestrian and a delivery worker on a bike.
Upper East Site contacted Baldor Foods for comment regarding Saturday’s collision but did not immediately hear back.
Update 5/3/23: A Baldor Foods spokesperson tells Upper East Site the company is “cooperating with local authorities in this incident and cannot comment any further at this time other than to say our thoughts are with all parties.”
