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[UPDATE] Deliveryman For Chinese Musician Restaurant Killed In Greenpoint, Driver Reportedly Charged With DWI
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 11, 2011
Modified Oct 11, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 11, 2011
Modified Oct 11, 2011
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[UPDATE BELOW: The driver's neighbor writes us in his defense.] A delivery worker, described by police as a 41-year-old Asian man, was killed last night in Greenpoint when a driver in a Buick struck him from behind as he waited at a stop sign. The accident occurred around 7 p.m. at the sleepy intersection of Leonard Street and Meserole Avenue, and witness Sheryl Yvette tells us the driver also hit a livery cab minivan at the intersection. In an email, she describes the horrible scene:
I arrived before he was taken away and did not watch when they pulled out the stretcher. When I arrived he was pinned under the minivan which was headed south on Leonard St. The man was lifeless. NYPD told me was dead, and that the driver was drunk and speeding. The driver hit the scooter with great force, knocking the livery car that was waiting at the stop sign (at Meserole) into the intersection and pinning the man and the scooter under the minivan.
Yvette adds that the victim was making deliveries for the popular Chinese Musician restaurant, and his "menu & takeout containers were all over the place." The NYPD confirms he was DOA at Bellevue, and that the unidentified driver was taken into custody, but a spokesperson would not comment on the nature of the charges. New York Shitty also hears that the Buick driver was arrested for D.W.I., and notes that more details will be provided at tonight's 94th Precinct Community Council meeting.
UPDATE 10:25: A woman who says she lives on Leonard Street sends us this email:
I live on on Leonard Street and happen to be the next store neighbor to the person that caused the accident. It's very unfortunate accident; happening so close to both my neighbors home and the delivery workers place of employment (it happened no more than 1 minute away for them both). The person who caused the accident is in all honesty a good person, I am not justifying what happened but I feel like it is necessary to state this because in this neighborhood prejudices run wild about the polish culture.
While I walked home and asked what happened to an onlooker I was told quite crudely "some fucking drunk polack." It just angers me that it comes down to such statements. Although, It is hard not to judge someone based on such a serve incident of terrible judgment. I don't really know where I am going with this email but I just felt that I needed to say that the driver is not someone who people that live around him would call reckless or irresponsible; although his actions last night were. I feel awful for everyone involved and send my sympathies to the family of the delivery worker. It's so strange how close they both were to their places of comfort and familiarity.
Tagged
brooklyn
chinese musician
delivery
drunk drivers
dwi
greenpoint
scooter
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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