Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Tagged with personal injury nyc

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25 firefighters were injured in a fire in New York. 23 of them had to be hospitalized and 2 of them were treated at the scene of the accident according to AM New York. No civilians were injured. The fire started in the lower level of a large Tribeca commercial and residential building located at the corner of Church and Murray at the end of the afternoon last Friday. The FDNY is still investigating the cause of the fire. According to the Gothamist, the fire was ignited in the kitchen of a restaurant located on the ground floor and quickly spread into the duct work and the rest of the building. Heavy black smoke came out of the building and spread through the financial district. The fire that began as a two-alarm fire turned into a 6-alarm one necessitating 200 firefighters to respond.  The Post indicates that the building had 3 unresolved fire safety violations from 8 months ago:

  1. failure to provide a fire-alarm system.
  2. inappropriate fire exit.
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accident sceneTwo people were seriously injured in bicycle accidents in New York City yesterday. One accident occurred in Brooklyn, the other one in Manhattan. In the first accident, a reckless driver slammed into a bicyclist near the intersection of Washington Ave and Willoughby Ave in Fort Green. The impact was so intense that the bicyclist landed on the hood of the blue four-door Subaru that struck him. He then crashed into the windshield as the driver kept on going. The bicyclist suffered critical injury. He was rushed to the hospital. He is expected to survive. The car was found a few blocks away. The police are still looking for the hit and run driver. (Read more in the NY Daily News)

In the second accident, a NYPD cruiser collided with a bicyclist in Manhattan. The accident occurred near Union Square by the intersection of Fifth Ave and 14th Street. The cruiser was responding to suspicious package alert. According to the police the cruiser was traveling at a low speed in the middle of the street with the siren on when their cruiser struck the bicyclist who was riding in the opposite direction. The 43-year old bicyclist suffered head trauma and was transported to the hospital. He was reported in critical but sable condition.The police cruiser stayed at the scene of the accident. (Read more in the NY Daily News)

Also early this morning a 30-year-old motorcyclist died after crashing into the back of a truck delivering bread. The accident occurred on Broadway near Arion Place under the elevated Subway tracks in Buschwick, Brooklyn. The police are still investigating the exact cause of the accident. (Read more in the NY Daily News)

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FDNY fighting NYC home fireA couple died and their 17 year old daughter was injured in a home fire in Brooklyn, NYC. 61 year old Howard Gluck and 59 year old Evelyn Gluck as well as their 17 year old daughter were sleeping in their two-story home located on 44th Street between Fort Hamilton Parkway and 12th Avenue  in Borough Park, when a fire broke out on the first floor and spread to the second floor around 3:45 am yesterday morning. The FDNY told the media that the fire had probably been going for a while until someone noticed it and called 911. By the time the firefighters arrived, the fire had already engulfed the stairwells.  The couple was found unconscious in a back bedroom on the second floor of the house. They were rushed to the hospital but it was too late and they both passed away. Their daughter was found on the roof of the porch and rescued by the firefighters. She suffered injury and was also transported to the hospital to be treated. She is now in stable condition. The daughter survived because she was able to climb out to a first floor landing before being rescued by the firefighters.

The Glucks had been living in their house for nearly 40 years. They were the first Jewish family to move into the neighborhood and beloved members of a tight knit community. Everybody was in shock yesterday in the neighborhood. Maureen Weiner, who had been living in the house next to them for almost 40 years as well was devastated by the news. She said they were the nicest people.

138 firefighters were called to the rescue to keep the blaze under control and make sure it didn’t spread to neighboring houses. 3 firefighters also suffered minor injury in the exercise of their duty. According to the fire marshals the fire was accidental and caused by “careless cooking/grill”.  There were no smoke detectors installed in the house.

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A FDNY truck crashed into two cars in New York City on Saturday injuring 7 people including a child.  The accident occurred in Queens at the intersection of Booth Memorial Ave and Kissena Blvd. The fire truck was on its way to a fire in Flushing and its sirens were on.  The fire truck hit a Lexus SUV. The Lexus SUV then ricocheted into a Mercedes SUV.  The Mercedes flipped over on its side. A total of 10 people were injured in the firetruck crash. 7 of them were transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Among them a child and an adult were critically injured. 3 other people including a firefighter were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the accident.

According to a study, there are around 30,000 firetruck crashes every year in the U.S. Firetruck crashes are also the second leading cause of death of on-duty firefighters. In New York City alone, there are between 20 and 40 crashes every month.

 

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accident scene5 people were injured after a speeding driver crashed into a pole in Queens, NYC, early Saturday.  The 26-year-old driver of a white Chevrolet Sonic was speeding on 31st Ave in Elmhurst, Queens, when he lost control of his vehicle. He crashed into a traffic light pole located in front of a CVS at the intersection of 54th Street. The impact was so violent that the car was totally destroyed. Luckily the police arrived quickly at the scene of the accident. They were able to pull  the driver and the passengers out of the vehicle before it caught fire.In addition to the driver, there were 4 other occupants  in the car. A 19 year old boy was sitting in the front passenger seat. A 17 year old girl and an 18 year old girl were sitting in the back with a 20-year-old man.  The driver was in critical condition. All the passengers were also seriously injured but in stable condition. All 5 were rushed to a nearby hospital. The police believe that not only speed but also alcohol was a factor in the accident. Read more in the NY Daily News

 

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aerial view of drunk driving accident locationA man died in an accident after a drunk driver lost control of his SUV and crashed into a parked backhoe on a NYC highway. The man who died was identified as Abe Prior, a 30-year-old resident of Norwalk, Connecticut. He was among the 3 passengers of a car driven by 30-year-old Jorge Viteri, also from Norwalk, Connecticut. Police said Viteri was  intoxicated at the time of the accident. He is now in custody. The accident occurred yesterday night around 6:30 pm on the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx, NYC.  The SUV was heading North. As the SUV approached exit 7 C, the driver tried to change lanes. He hit a barrier and crashed into a large construction vehicle that was parked on the white lined center median between the Bruckner Expressway and the Throgs Neck Expressway (see picture on the left) . The impact was intense. All occupants were injured and rushed to the hospital. Abe Prior didn’t survive and died from his injuries while at the hospital. The two other passengers were expected to survive. The driver only suffered minor injuries and was arrested by the police. We question why such a large construction vehicle was left parked on the center median on a weekend. An accident such as this should have been anticipated. Read more on CBS News .

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accident sceneA limo driver died after his car hit a tow truck on a Bronx Highway.  His passenger miraculously only suffered minor injuries. 45-year-old Leonel Paulino was driving west on the Cross Bronx Expressway. He was speeding and slammed into an idle tow truck which was helping another motorist.  He suffered massive head trauma and died at the scene of the accident. Amber Normington from Yonkers was seated in the back seat when the accident occurred. Miraculously, she only suffered minor injuries. The driver of the tow truck as well as the motorist who was being helped were also fine.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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An NYPD officer was injured after being dragged by a car 200 feet. The accident occurred in Queens, NYC, Saturday around 2:00 am. The driver of a Honda blew a red light at the intersection of Guy Brewer and N. Conduit Boulevards in Jamaica. A police officer then approached the car and asked the driver to turn off his car. Instead, the driver, who according to the officer, was in his twenties, sped off, dragging the officer with him over 200 feet. The officer had his arm stuck in the seat belt. He was able to get off and fell away from the car. The car was found abandoned a few blocks away. The police are still looking for the driver. Read more in the NY Daily News

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96 people died and 27,923 suffered personal injuries in 110,992 motor vehicle accidents in New York City during the first 6 months of 2017 based on the most recent statistics released by the NYPD.

This is the first time that the number of people dying in NYC traffic accidents during the first six months of the year is below 100.  In 2013, before Mayor de Blasio launched Vision Zero, 121 people died in auto accidents in the city during the same period. Vision Zero was launched at the beginning of 2014 and since then the total number of people dying in NYC crashes slowly decreased from 110 during the first semester of 2014 to 107 during the first semester of 2015 and the first semester of 2016. It dropped to 96 for the same period of 2017. Multiple Vision Zero measures such as the reduction of the city speed limit to 25 mph as well as the installation of cameras may have contributed to this decline in fatal crashes.

traffic accident deaths in NYC for the first semester of 2013 to 2017
The decrease in traffic deaths in New York City occurred despite a significant increase in crashes over the last 4 years. In 2013, 99,474 crashes were reported to the NYPD during the first semester. This number increased steadily to 100,834 in 2014 and 104,636 in 2015. It then jumped to 111,588 in 2016. It decreased slightly during the first six months of this year to stabilize at 110,992. Distracted driving is the most common factor in these accidents.

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accident sceneA pedestrian died in a Bronx car accident  on Friday afternoon. The 77 year old man was trying to cross the Hutchinson River Parkway near the Pelham parkway when he was hit by a car. He was rushed to the hospital where he died. The driver who hit him stayed at the scene of the accident. He wasn’t charged. Read more in the NY Daily News

Also in the Bronx during the weekend 4 people were injured in a car accident related to speed.  Around 6 AM on Sunday morning the driver of a black sedan lost control of his vehicle and crashed into several pillars before hitting another car.  The accident occurred near Sands Place  in Middletown, Pelham Bay. It is a miracle that nobody died according to the NY Daily News