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Cyclist Still Hospitalized After Grisly Union Square Accident
By
John Del Signore
Published May 19, 2010
Modified May 19, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 19, 2010
Modified May 19, 2010
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We've received more details regarding the cyclist who was hit by an Express bus on Broadway between 13th & 14th Streets last Thursday. The victim, who sustained "extensive, life threatening injuries," is named Pilar Ortiz, a 36-year-old American citizen who was born in Chile. According to her family, Ortiz is an architect with degrees from the Universidad de Chile and the Integrated Media Arts program at Hunter College. She lives in Brooklyn and was recently admitted to the Ph.D-Sociology program at Hunter/ Graduate Center CUNY. She was biking to work at the time when she was struck by the bus. Her attorney emailed us today with horrific details about her accident:
Pilar suffered extensive, life threatening injuries including fractures of one leg and horrific degloving injuries and fractures to the other leg. A degloving injury is one in which the skin, underlying tissue, muscle, nerves and fascia are peeled away from the body very much the way a glove would be removed from a hand. The injury has been so severe that the surgeons have already conducted 4 surgeries to try and save her leg.
Needless to say, the injuries occurred when she was struck by the bus while she was lawfully on her bicycle. According to the police report the bus driver never saw her and wrote, among other things, that the accident took place because the bus driver failed to yield the right of way while Pilar was crossing the intersection with the signal in her favor. The report also states that the bus driver heard a "crunch and scream."
Ortiz's lawyer, Ben Rubinowitz, is hoping witnesses will come forward to help. His contact information is below.
Ben Rubinowitz
Gair Gair Conason Steigman Mackauf Bloom & Rubinowitz
80 Pine Street
NY, NY 10005
212 943 1090
Fax 212 425 7513
[email protected]
Tagged
accident
bicycle
bike
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cycling
mta bus
pilar ortiz
union square
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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