66th and Amsterdam.
A 73-year-old Upper West Sider named Ilse Falcone was killed when an SUV backed into her while she was on 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue on Saturday morning.
The driver of the Hyundai SUV that hit Falcone was reversing out of a parking spot on the south side of 66th Street around 8 a.m. when the vehicle hit Falcone. Police found her with injuries to her head and body, and an ambulance took her to Mt. Sinai West, where she was pronounced deceased. Falcone lived on Riverside Drive.
The driver remained on scene and the NYPD Collision Squad is investigating. There was another fatal crash on the UWS early Saturday.
Aggressive, self-centered, immature drivers of all vehicles has reached epidemic levels on the Upper West Side. We are all in danger, but especially those who look down at their phones while walking, and senior citizens, whose reflexes of escaping an oncoming vehicle are severely diminished. On a related matter, will any of us ever have peace from the daily (illegal) ATV and motorbike riders on Central Park West?
If he was reversing out of a spot she could’ve been walking in a way that put her in danger. We don’t know all of the information. Both of them could’ve been on their phone. Or neither of them or one of them. Pedestrians and drivers are both guilty of being reckless. He remained on the scene which says something about him.
This is disgusting. A woman is dead. Even if she was looking at her phone or not paying attention, she did NOT deserve to die for it. A car is like a loaded gun. IF you are going to drive (I do), you have to be responsible and realize you hold the fates of others in your hands. Be careful.
Agreed – being allowed to drive a car (at least in a city) should require a background check like buying a gun. Like guns, there are many law abiding people who use cars, but the wrong people can easily turn them into a dangerous weapon.
Accidents happen even when people are being as careful as they can. I stepped out between two cars yesterday and the car was just starting to move. I’m still young enough that I could jump back. If I hadn’t, it would not have been the driver’s fault. I don’t know what happened here – so I don’t know whether it was anyone’s fault. There is no question that she didn’t deserve it – but that doesn’t mean it was somebody’s fault. One of the hardest things to accept is that sometimes, no one is at fault and something terrible happens anyway.
sadly, you’re preaching to the choir. Like I stated above, the UWS has been and continues to be under assault from drivers who frankly…should not be driving. I shudder every time I see a senior crossing a high traffic street slowly.
Even if the woman were walking in a way that put her in danger, the nature of walking in NYC, the SUV driver backed into her from some sort of parking space, so therefore we can be next to sure that the SUV driver didn’t thoroughly check to the rear of the SUV before backing up.
Unfortunately, yes, drivers leaving parking spaces often back up into crosswalks without looking. It’s especially dangerous when the driver accelerates quickly backward.
Now, we don’t know that the woman was killed in a crosswalk. Speculating here: she could have been crossing in the middle of the block, while not noticing the SUV’s engine was on, so was to be avoided, but even if she contributed to increasing the danger to herself, she didn’t smash herself into the ground.
Jay,
A tragedy.
It was not at the crosswalk – was down the block, about 30 feet from the crosswalk, south side of 66th by MLK High School
according to a brief item i read, the location was the crosswalk.
I agree. Let’s not start a long thread of uninformed generalizations. Reckless drivers are a problem. Inattentive pedestrians are a problem. There is also the principle of multiple causation. We were not there and do not know what happened or who was at fault.
It is a tragedy that this woman died, and I’m guessing that the driver will have a lifetime of survivor’s guilt. May her memory be a blessing.
It’s a terrible situation, but it is completely unclear how a vehicle backing out of a parking spot hit a pedestrian with the information presented. Until then, it’s impossible to know how or why this occurred.
Same situation with motorbikes exists on Broadway in the 70’s and 80’s.
Ilse lived in my building. She was truly one of the nicest people I have ever met. This has been shocking and truly heartbreaking. My thoughts are with husband Tony and the rest of their family.
Is there a place to report and document instances of nearly being run over by one or more motor bikes riding through a red light and/or in a pedestrian lane at high speeds?
This has happened to me 3 times in 2 days.
Clearly, the NYPD is not going to address this until another pedestrian is run over and killed.
I am considering hiring armed security for my evening walks.
Tell Transportation Alternatives.
They got what they wanted.
I agree with you.
“Stupid, thoughtless plans have consequences.”
And from what I understand, the Manhattan bicycle commuters, for whom these “bike lanes” seem to have been installed, are not even using them anymore because of the dangers posed by all manner of more powerful two-wheeled vehicles. Once again, blame must fall where it is due: On Mayor DiBlasio, the City Council, Helen Rosenthal, Community Board 7, and Howard Yaruss, Chairman of the Transportation Committee.
Remember to look five ways before and when crossing streets and “bike lanes.” Your life depends on it!
Bike commuter here who always uses the protected bike lanes and would probably be dead by now without them
oh enough already with you people in WSR – this article is about a woman getting hit in a parking space behind a reversing car. What the HELL does this have to do with cyclists? Oh I forgot – me on my citibike in the bike lane is responsible for everything bad that happens on the UWS – shootings, mugging, robberies etc etc.
Yes! Accurate assessment.. It is their problem. Traffic is back to pre-pandemic.. but with more types of vehicles and bikers on sidewalk every DAY. NOT IN THEIR F BIKE LANES.. READ MY COMMENT BELOW. That was just tonite. It is all day long— cause I am put in the position to use my voice literally to tell them to get off the
sidewalks—-I should not be put in that position… You put me in danger to be put in that position in order to protect myself from getting hit by bikes on sidewalks…
UWS REPS! HOW MANY MORE DEATHS … until you
creatively figure out your part in this—- and do something—- There is hardly any place for pedestrians to walk with Restaraunts using more sidewalk space and bikes coming right at you ON THAT SAME SIDEWALK
TIME TO WAKE OUT OF YOUR STUPOR
Two UWS pedestrians killed by cars in one weekend. Traffic in the city is back to pre-pandemic levels, but the NYPD is doing significantly less traffic enforcement. The NYPD wrote 39,777 total moving violation tickets in June 2021 (down from 82,229, or 51 percent, in June 2019). How many more pedestrians need to be killed before the NYPD starts enforcing traffic laws and cracking down on reckless drivers again? When will our community board stop its obsession with ebikes and demand action on the actual cause of death in our neighborhood – dangerous drivers? When will Gale Brewer step in and do something about her completely misguided community board appointees? Vision Zero means we should treat *every* traffic death with the same urgency and law enforcement response that people demand after a crash involving an ebike.
Josh
There was a tragic fatality of a baby in a stroller in Brooklyn.
The driver caused the crash then tried to steal a car to get away. The driver had a history of citations.
A colleague who has been researching NYC vehicle accidents/fatalities has found that a majority involve drivers who have arrests/criminal history (many unrelated to driving)
Sadly traffic restrictions have little impact on criminals who then get behind the wheel.
Perhaps the NYPD needs to enforce traffic laws with pedestrians to keep them from crossing on red lights and jaywalking. Not every death is the fault of the driver. In fact, the statistics show that “vision zero” and the measures taken by CB7 have actually increased accidents. As the old PSA used to say”Cross at the green and not in-between”.
Bill Williams, You are VERY WRONG. I have just analyzed crash data from NYC police records using Crash Mapper NYC. It shows negative trend lines for # of crashes, # of fatalities, and # of serious injuries over the past 10 years. Where did you get your “statistics?”
The driver who killed two people on Saturday night fled the scene. There is no question that is against the law. I highly doubt that was the first time this driver ever broke a traffic law. NYPD enforcement is down *50%*. If the NYPD started enforcing the law again we could get some of these dangerous and irresponsible drivers off the roads before they have the chance to kill.
This comment section is filling up with fact free victim blaming of people who can’t defend themselves because they’re dead. It’s starting to become unreadable.
What are you talking about? Lots of accidents happen. Plenty are the fault of drivers. Many others are the fault of the pedestrians. You cannot seriously blame all of these incidents on the drivers?!?
Cars have their place in the world and aren’t going away but drivers need to be more careful and laws need to be better enforced. Pedestrians need to be more careful and observe traffic signals and be aware of what is happening around them.
It is sad that discussions so quickly devolve to black and white and people don’t understand that there are shades of gray.
This is happening because the police have decided not to ticket drivers and enforce the rules of the road. Shame on you NYPD!
Something is missing in the reporting of the accident. W 66th St between Amsterdam and West End Avenues was milled for repaving, but has not been resurfaced in more than 2+ weeks, causing a rough road surface. In addition, a 9/11 commemoration narrowed traffic on Amsterdam Avenue, in front of the firehouse at Amsterdam Avenue and W66th St, to one lane, with significant double parking at the same time and with no one directing or managing traffic. This has clearly been left out of the retelling of this sad story and the circumstances surrounding it.
Amsterdam Ave again! 66th Street, Lincoln Center, 74th/Amsterdam – all accidents.
When is the NYPD going to do something about Amsterdam and the side streets.
At least this motorist stayed on scene.
Why doesn’t anyone complain about those SUV’s? They’re huge, high up off the ground, and have blind spots ….. compound that with drivers in a hurry….. it’s a deadly combination!
How is complaining about SUV’s constructive? Answer: it’s not.
It’s actually something NY legislators are thinking about right now, and it would definitely make sense for concerned citizens to speak up and let them know it’s a priority. Some food for thought: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-24/pedestrian-safety-ratings-target-suvs-and-pickups?sref=0IejgNtz
I believe a woman was killed on the same block by a scooter who fled the scene in the past year. I don’t know if others have noticed but I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen the police stopping and ticketing drivers. New York simply has somehow decided to forget its guardrails that once kept people safe. There’s every manner of vehicle in bike lanes and out of them. Bike riders in lanes and out of them.Restaurants spread out over most of the sidewalk spilling into the streets. It’s difficult to know where to walk anymore. It’s difficult to know where to look anymore when crossing a street with the light. New York pols decided that NY could be all things to all people. And this is the result. A dangerous free for all.