UES Crash Leaves Pedestrian In Critical Condition, Police Say

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A man was in critical condition after being struck by a driver while crossing an Upper East Side intersection Tuesday afternoon, according to police.

The 66-year-old man was crossing East 77th Street at First Avenue just before 6 p.m. Tuesday, when the driver of a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck made a left turn from First Avenue onto East 77th Street.

The 34-year-old male driver struck the man in the street. Police responding to a 911 call found the 66-year-old lying on the street with trauma to his body and face, according to authorities.

He was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition Wednesday morning, police said.

The pickup driver stayed at the scene, and no charges have been filed against him, but an investigation is ongoing by the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad, police said.

The crash came just three days after 82-year-old Fahri Boumechal, an Upper East Side resident, was hit and killed by a school bus driver in Midtown, and about a month after 86-year-old Mehri Hekmati, also an Upper East Sider, was fatally struck by a scooter rider in East Harlem.

During the first quarter of 2022, 59 people were killed on New York City's streets: a 44 percent spike compared to last year and the worst start to any year since the city's Vision Zero safety effort began in 2014, according to a recent report.

The grim numbers prompted Mayor Eric Adams to pledge $904 million this month toward building more bus lanes, bike lanes and pedestrian spaces.

This article has been updated to reflect that the driver was turning left, not right.