99-Year-Old Woman Pedestrian Killed By Bronx Motorist, Cops Say

NEW YORK CITY — A 99-year-old woman crossing a Bronx intersection was struck and killed by a motorist Wednesday, police and advocates said.

The death of Bernice Schwartz, 99, prompted renewed calls for street safety measures by advocates worried about surging traffic deaths citywide.

"Living to 99 only to get killed by a driver turning left. How upsetting," tweeted Second Ave. Sagas, a popular blog focused on traffic issues.

Schwartz walked across the intersection of Oxford Avenue and West 235th Street about 8:30 a.m. when a motorist — a 53-year-old man — drove into her, NYPD officials said.

The man, who was making a left turn onto Oxford Avenue in a 2022 Mazda CX9, stayed at the scene and wasn't arrested, police said. Schwartz suffered severe head trauma and later died at Saint Barnabas Hospital, authorities said.

The crash is under investigation, authorities said.

Schwartz is the 144 person and the 25th senior to die in a crash along New York City's streets this year, according to data compiled by Transportation Alternatives.

Advocates with the group pointed out that Schwartz wasn't the first New Yorker denied their 100th birthday because of a traffic crash.

Jack Mikulincer, a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor, died in February after a motorist struck him as he crossed a Brooklyn intersection in his electric wheelchair.

"All New Yorkers — especially our most vulnerable — deserve safe streets, free from the threat of death or serious injury from drivers," said Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, in a statement. "Mayor Adams and DOT must take immediate action to expand investments in safe crossings, physical infrastructure that increases visibility and slows down drivers, and car-free streets."

Traffic fatalities in The Bronx this year have reached the highest point since Vision Zero — a sweeping initiative to eliminate traffic deaths in the city — began in 2014, according to a recent Transportation Alternatives analysis.