2nd Deadly Upper East Side Crash Spurs Calls For Reform

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — For the second time this month, dozens gathered Sunday to mourn after a crash on an Upper East Side street claimed the lives of two more immigrant workers.

A Sunday evening vigil at the corner of Third Avenue and East 61st Street paid tribute to Taurino Rosendo Morales and Delfino Eduardo Maceda, who were killed on Christmas Eve when the driver of a parked Baldor box truck suddenly accelerated forward.

The driver hit Morales, a 37-year-old delivery cyclist, in the street, before jumping the curb and striking Maceda, a 46-year-old construction worker who was standing on the sidewalk. Both men were pronounced dead at Weill Cornell Hospital.

Friday's crash came just 10 days after another crash on First Avenue and East 76th Street took the life of Salvador "Chavita" Navarrete-Flores, a fellow delivery worker who, like Maceda and Morales, also hailed from Mexico.

Well over 200 people have been killed in crashes on city streets in 2021 — the deadliest year of Mayor Bill de Blasio's eight-year tenure, despite his much-publicized "Vision Zero" effort. Safe-streets advocates have raised alarms about the trend, calling for infrastructure that better prevents pedestrians and cyclists as well as stricter enforcement against law-breaking drivers.

The truck involved in Sunday's crash had racked up 271 violations since 2019, the New York Post reported. Still, no charges have been announced against the 66-year-old driver, who may have accidentally hit the gas pedal after getting into the truck following a delivery, police sources told the Post.

In attendance at Sunday's vigil was Ydanis Rodriguez, the Manhattan City Council member who will become Transportation Commissioner under Mayor-elect Eric Adams.

🎗Rest In Power: Taurino Rosendo Morales —Deliverista who worked for @DoorDash, marched w/ #LosDeliveristasUnidos for essential protections and was tragically killed in the Upper West Side on Xmas Eve. “We’re essential, but unprotected. The fight for justice continues!” —Manny pic.twitter.com/4DuGfNzq82
— Workers Justice ✊🏾 (@workersjusticep) December 26, 2021

"As I have said before, we need to improve the safety of our intersections," Rodriguez wrote on Twitter. The Third Avenue intersection where Maceda and Morales died has seen nearly two dozen crashes in the past decade, including a previous pedestrian fatality.

Morales is the 14th "deliverista" to be killed on the job this year, according to the advocacy group Los Deliveristas Unidos. At least 11 died in crashes, while others were murdered on the job — including Francisco Villalva Vitinio, a DoorDash worker who was shot in East Harlem in March in an attempted e-bike robbery.

Morales, a Harlem resident, arrived in New York City in 2018. He was hoping to support his wife and two children, according to a GoFundMe created by his brother that seeks to raise $15,000 to return Morales's body to his hometown of Oztocingo.

Maceda, who lived in Corona, Queens, had just learned that he would become the father of twins, his girlfriend told the Daily News. He died on his birthday.

Today, I will be paying my respects to Taurino Rosendo Morales & Salvador Navarrete Flores. 2 delivery workers who lost their lives on separate occasion after being struck by box trucks. pic.twitter.com/1uJxsWGpet
— Ydanis Rodriguez (@ydanis) December 26, 2021

"As another set of families are destroyed forever due to these preventable crashes, we need our leaders to fast-track proven safety measures, especially on known and dangerous corridors like Third Avenue," said Danny Harris, executive director of the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, in a statement.

Police are still investigating the Christmas Eve crash.

Others killed on Upper East Side streets this year include a 64-year-old woman who was struck by a driver on Madison Avenue in April, and an 81-year-old woman who was hit by a school bus on Third Avenue in October.

Related coverage: Upper East Side Crash Victim Memorialized Amid Anger Over Death