NYPD Won’t Confirm West Village Pedestrian Fatality

Last week, a reader wrote to tell us that a woman hit by a cab driver in the West Village on May 2 had died of her injuries.

According to the Daily News, the woman was crossing Jane Street near Hudson Street with her dog when she was hit by the driver of a yellow cab.

“The cab was going fast and was trying to pass another car on the right. He didn’t see the woman and hit her pretty badly,” said Valentain Diaz, 37, who works nearby.

“She was trying to cross the block but didn’t make it. She must have hurt her head. She looked critical.”

A neighbor said the woman lived nearby and was often seen out with her beloved pet. “It’s amazing that she never let go of her dog,” she said. “Her dog looked pretty shaken up. He was worried about his owner you could tell.”

DNAinfo reported that the driver was not charged.

FDNY confirmed on Friday that the victim was a 70-year-old woman, struck at Hudson and Jane at about 9:54 p.m. The victim suffered head trauma and was transported to Bellevue, a spokesperson said. FDNY could not provide a name.

Our tipster, a West Village resident, said she learned of the woman’s death through a call to the 6th Precinct. Streetsblog also made several calls to NYPD. On Friday, when we asked an officer at the 6th Precinct if a pedestrian had indeed been killed that night, he replied, “As far as I know.” The NYPD public information office had no information about the crash on Friday, though a spokesperson said he would contact the 6th Precinct. When we called DCPI again today, a different spokesperson said there were no updates. We then called the 6th Precinct a second time. The officer we spoke with said she knew nothing about the incident, and said that if the public information office had no details, it’s possible someone “made it up.”

The indifference with which NYPD handles traffic crashes, even fatal ones, makes it extremely difficult to gather vital information that could be used to save lives. Nearly three months after the City Council took NYPD to task for shoddy traffic enforcement, and heard testimony from crash victims and their families concerning the department’s public relations failures, nothing has changed.

The commanding officer at the 6th Precinct is Deputy Inspector Brandon Delpozo. To voice your concerns about neighborhood traffic safety directly to Delpozo himself, head to the next precinct community council meeting. The 6th Precinct council meetings happen at 7:30 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month at 25 Carmine Street. Call the precinct at 212-741-4826 for information.

If you have further information on last Wednesday’s crash, please send us an email or let us know in the comments.