Personal Injury

Published on: July 3, 2018

Ben Rubinowitz to speak at the “Winning Cases in Federal Court” Seminar organized by the New York County Lawyers Association

Our managing partner, New York Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Rubinowitz, will be a faculty member at the”Winning Cases in Federal Court” Program that will take place on two consecutive Thursday evenings, July 12 and 19, at NYCLA’s offices in New York.

During this seminar, participants will learn what they need to know to practice in federal court. The program is co-chaired by Joel M. Silverstein and by Hon. Sydney Stein.

On the first evening which covers Trial related subjects, Judge Stein will provide a “view from the bench” after each topic presentation.

Continue reading →

Published on: June 26, 2018

No charge for hit and run driver who killed a 4 year old pedestrian and injured her mother on a Brooklyn sidewalk

By GGCRBHS&M

A young pedestrian was killed and her mother was injured in a car accident in Brooklyn, NYC, on Sunday afternoon.

A 4 year-old girl was riding her mini scooter on the sidewalk of Wyckoff Ave near Hart Street while her mother was walking close by. At one point the little girl lost a shoe. She picked it up, then the mother bent to help her. As the mother was helping her daughter, a car parked at a laundromat just next to them backed up, hit them both and continued on its way. The little girl died at the scene of the accident. Her mother survived but was injured.

The car driver and two passengers were stopped by the police two blocks away. It is not clear if the driver realized than she ran over the mother and her daughter. Residents have been complaining for a long time about the dangerous parking lot of the laundromat. In order to park or to leave the parking space, drivers have to cross the sidewalk.

Continue reading →

Published on: June 20, 2018

Woman suffers serious leg injury in NY building collapse

By GGCRBHS&M

A woman was seriously injured in a building collapse in Poughkeepsie yesterday afternoon around 4:00 pm. It took four hours for the firefighters to be able to secure the building and rescue 43-year old Rotanya Hargorve who was trapped in heavy debris. The woman suffered very bad leg injuries and had to be brought out of the accident scene on a stretcher. She was transported to the hospital to be treated.

At the time of the accident, Rotanya was working in a boutique in the building next to the vacant 7-story building near the corner of Canon Street and Academy Street in Poughkeepsie. When the tall building started to collapse, heavy debris fell onto the adjacent 3-story building and caused the roof to cave in. Debris and brick crashed through the building and fell onto Rotanya who was working in the boutique on the first floor located at 15 Academy.

Authorities believe that the collapse was caused by a heavy storm that had just made its way through the area and produced winds exceeding 60 mph. Located a 19 Academy Street, the vacant building was built in 1911 by Manning Cleveland, a businessman who was planning to bring skyscrapers to Poughkeepsie. It was recently sold to Pok 23 Acad and Pok Acad, limited liability companies with New York city addresses. The limited liabilities companies also own the next 2 vacant adjacent buildings located on Academy 21 and Academy 23.

Continue reading →

Published on: June 19, 2018

13 people injured after pickup truck rear ends bus in NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

A pickup truck crashed into a MTA bus injuring 13 bus passengers in the Bronx, NYC. The crash occurred on Friday afternoon around 1:20 pm. 25 passengers were on board of the Bx21 MTA bus. As it was making a stop at E. 180th St and Morris Park Ave, it got rear-ended by a pickup truck. The impact was so intense that 13 bus passengers suffered personal injury. 11 passengers were transported to the hospital to be treated. Among them, 6 were seriously injured. Two other passengers who were also injured refused medical attention. The driver suffered from lower back pain. The police are still investigating the cause of the accident. The pickup driver wasn’t arrested.

Read more in the NY Daily News

Picture: Courtesy of Wikipedia

Published on: June 10, 2018

April traffic fatalities at their lowest in New York City

By GGCRBHS&M

12 people died and 4,578 were injured in traffic accidents in New York City in April. Among the fatalities were 7 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and 2 motor vehicle passengers. The number of fatalities recorded last April is the lowest number of traffic fatalities ever recorded in April since Vision Zero started. Last year during the same month 20 people died in NYC motor vehicle accidents. In 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, there were respectively 14, 19, 21 and 15 fatalities.

Sadly, the number of people injured in accidents in the city was higher in April 2018 than it was in April 2017. It wasn’t as high as in 2016 but it was higher than in 2014 and 2015 and also back at the level where it was before Vision Zero was implemented. While pedestrians and cyclists account for most deaths, motorists and passengers sustain most of the injuries.

Motorists injuries continue to be on an ascending trend with a record number of 2,117 motorists injured last April compared to respectively, 1,922, 2,061, 1,363, 1,305 and 1,599 in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Distracted driving might be one of the reasons why this number continues to increase.

Continue reading →

Published on: June 1, 2018

To prevent injuries and deaths, ATV should be kept off paved roads

By GGCRBHS&M

Even though driving an ATV on the road might be allowed in your town, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently released an announcement urging ATV users to stay off paved roads.

According to the agency, ATVs which are designed for off road use are more difficult to control on paved surfaces and are at risk of over turning. Obviously there is also a higher risk of collision with cars and other motor vehicles when driving an ATV on a paved road.

ATVs are dangerous vehicles. Between 2010 and 2013, 430,000 people were treated for injuries related to ATV accidents and 2,400 died from these accidents. Among the 2,400 deaths, 770 occurred on a paved road, That’s more than 30% of all ATV deaths.

Continue reading →

Published on: May 27, 2018

Driver arrested after hitting motorcyclist in road rage accident in New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A motorcyclist was injured in a road rage accident on Wednesday morning on the west side of Manhattan, New York City. The motorcyclist and the driver got into a verbal argument. After that the enraged driver intentionally struck the motorcyclist with his SUV. The bike ended up mangled under the SUV and the motorcyclist was brought to the hospital to be treated for his injuries. He is expected to survive. The driver was arrested. The accident occurred on 57th street and 11th Ave.

Continue reading →

Published on: May 27, 2018

34 people injured after two buses collided in the Lincoln Tunnel

By GGCRBHS&M

34 people suffered personal injury in an accidents involving two buses. The accident occurred in the center tube of the Lincoln tunnel that links New Jersey to Manhattan. The two NJ Transit bus who were coming from Wayne and from Oradell were following each others when one of them rear ended the other one. 25 passengers were on board one of the buses and 37 were riding in the other bus. 32 of them were injured. 8 of them suffered serious injury. Instead of ambulances, FDNY used a special bus that allowed them to transport dozens of injured passengers to the hospital at the same time.

The police are still investigating the exact cause of the accident.

Published on: May 25, 2018

Will School buses finally be equipped with seat belts and automated brakes?

By GGCRBHS&M

For years safety advocates have recommended that school buses be equipped with 3-point seat belts to protect children from injuries or deaths in case of a bus accident. Yesterday the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) joined in by recommending for the first time that all US School buses be equipped with lap and shoulder belts.

Based on previous studies, The NTSB also recommended that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandate automatic emergency braking systems for all American school buses.

States such as New York, New Jersey, Florida and Louisiana that already have buses equipped with lap belts should also upgrade to lap and shoulder belts.

Continue reading →

Published on: May 18, 2018

Actress Ruthie Ann Blumenstein’s unborn child just died from injuries sustained in the Park Slope crash

By GGCRBHS&M

On March 5th, Ruthie Ann Blumenstein was crossing the road with Abigail, her 5 year old daughter when a reckless driver struck them (see our previous blog). Abigail died at the scene of the accident and her mother suffered serious injury. At the time of the accident she was 39 weeks pregnant with Sophia Rosemary Wong Blumenstein. On Wednesday our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz who represents Mrs Blumenstein announced that sadly her unborn child had died from the injuries suffered during the crash. “The pain suffered by Ruthie and Jonathan is nearly impossible to fathom,” Mr. Rubinowitz said. “As you might imagine, they are overwhelmed by the sadness of the deaths of their children.”

Ruthie Ann Blumenstein is a Tony-Waward winning actress. The actress and her daughter Abigail were among a group of pedestrians who were crossing the intersection of Fifth Ave and 9th street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when Dorothy Burns ran a red light and erratically plowed into them. Abigail and 20 month old Joshua Lew died at the scene of the accident. Several pedestrians were injured including the pregnant Ruthie Ann Blumenstein.

Dorthy Burns was recently indicted by a Grand Jury and was charged with manslaughter, assault and criminally negligent homicide (see previous blog). Burns suffers from multiple sclerosis. Prior to the fatal accident she received 12 driving violations for speeding in school zones and running red lights. Her license is now suspended. It is outrageous that she was still allowed to drive at the time of the accident.

Continue reading →