Good Samaritans race to aid victims after taxi crashes into NYC building, injuring 6
A group of hero New Yorkers sprang into action when an out-of-control cab barreled into a Manhattan cafe Monday — lifting the nearly 4,500-pound SUV off two female tourists trapped under it.
The women were among six tourists injured in the bloody mayhem at 1186 Broadway between West 29th and West 28th streets just before 1 p.m., authorities said. Three of the victims were in critical condition.
“They weren’t screaming or talking — they were just in complete shock and watching us,” one of the good Samaritans, Marcos De Ogueta, said of the injured ladies.
De Ogueta — who was working construction on the second floor of the new Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences on the NoMad block when he heard the crash — said one of the victims lost a leg below the knee and that the ankle on her other leg was mangled.
The second woman was missing the majority of one of her thighs, he said.
About 20 quick-thinking New Yorkers freed the women from under the car before first responders had even arrived, video shows.
Meanwhile, “the driver was in complete shock, just sitting in his seat with his hands on the wheel,” De Ogueta, 43, said of the cabbie at the wheel of the yellow Toyota RAV 4 hybrid.
“He was in the car for a couple of minutes until someone banged on his window and told him to get out because we were trying to lift the car to free the women.
“He eventually got out, took a few steps, then fainted.’’
Truck driver Kader Issoufou, 45, said he witnessed the cab hit a cyclist and then diners.
The SUV taxi appeared to “cut the corner and turned into the bike lane, then he lost control and slammed into the sidewalk,’’ Issoufou said.
“He hit the cyclist first, then he hit the people eating” at Black Seed Bagels, the witness said. “Everybody rushed over and lifted the taxi off two women trapped underneath.
“One woman’s legs are gone. They were all mangled,’’ Issoufou said.
“A guy took off his belt and tied it around her leg to try and stop the bleeding.’’
Video of the rescue effort taken from a few floors above the street showed an incredible scene as the New Yorkers rushed to save those injured.
People lifted the SUV — whose 2022 model is listed by Toyota as weighing between 4,200 and 4,300 pounds — to unpin the women.
Footage from the aftermath showed one person on a stretcher with a massive gash on their head. Another showed a person with a serious ankle injury.
While three of those injured were in critical condition, the FDNY said the other three victims had non-life threatening injuries.
Firefighters and EMS treated the patients at the scene and rushed them to Bellevue Hospital, according to the FDNY. Police have not released the identities of those hurt, and it’s unclear if the driver was among the injured.
“Right now, it appears to have been an accident, but our Highway Investigation team is here, and they’ll be figuring out exactly what happened,” NYPD Chief John Chell said at a press conference after the crash. Police confirmed witness accounts that the taxi driver hit a bike before ramming into the building.
In a Monday afternoon interview with WABC, Mayor Eric Adams said the people struck were tourists.
“We’re going to continue to reach out to those who lived outside the city, I’m going to speak with their mayors and see if they need any assistance navigating the bureaucracy here,” Hizzoner said.
In a statement released after his briefing at the scene, Adams said, “We should not have to accept, and I will not accept, a reality where New Yorkers die from traffic violence.
“Traffic safety is all of our concern, and I will continue working and taking action every day to keep New Yorkers and everyone else visiting our city safe on our streets,” Adams said.
The mayor also thanked the “numerous New Yorkers who came to the aid of those injured and displayed that New Yorkers will always be there for each other.”
The identity of the driver has not been released. The same cab was caught speeding through a red light in December 2021, according to howsmydriving.nyc, but it’s unclear if the same driver was responsible for the traffic infraction.
A rep for Black Seed Bagels told The Post that the shop is “working closely with the NYPD and DOT in their investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
“Our hearts are with those who were injured as we pray for their well-being,’’ the rep said.
The accident comes after a 16-year-old boy was killed Saturday when he was flung from his SUV in a three-car crash in Brooklyn on the Belt Parkway.
Issoufou said the city needed to scrap its permanent Open Restaurants outdoor-dining program, which surfaced first with COVID.
“The city gotta be blamed too,” he said. “Too many people are eating on the street, and it’s too dangerous.”
Additional reporting by Larry Celona, David Meyer and Amanda Woods
