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Inset of Ysemny Ramos; WCBS 2 image of the scene
According to witnesses, the van's driver, Keston Brown, was "hooting" and "cat-calling" at Ysemny Ramos, the 29-year-old. The Daily News reports, "When the two ignored the men's advances, the van slammed into the women, pinning [Tassia] Katsiambanis, before coming to a stop at a CitiBank, police said." Other pedestrians rushed to help, but Katsiambanis told them, "Don't touch me. I broke my hand. Go help my friend, she's pregnantI!" However, Ramos was too severely injured; the super of the building where the pair worked had wanted to help but couldn't and told the Times, "I feel sick."
Other witnesses said Brown saw the bodies on the sidewalk and walked away. The police did apprehend the 27-year-old, who was charged with driving while intoxicated and marijuana possession. According to a Gristedes employee who spoke to the Times, "He had been a carpenter and maintenance worker for the Gristedes supermarket chain for at least two years, and was taking the van home for the weekend to respond to emergency call." Gristedes spokesman Rob Ryan gave a statement to the Post, "What happened today was a tragedy... Our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved in the incident, their families and their friends."
Katsiambanis is in stable condition at a hospital. Yesterday was also Ramos' third anniversary with her husband Renaldo Ramos. He told reporters, "She was full of love, she refused to see the glass half-empty and she always filled up my cup when I saw it half-empty."
Update: Brown was also charged with manslaughter and felonious assault.
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I oppose capital punishment, but I'm quite enthusiastic about participatory public stoning.
Sounds like a crime fit for 0 to 30 days, suspended license for a year, and some light probation! Justice system, do your worst!
This is another (very tragic) reason the City should continue to remove automobiles from city streets by reducing the number of car lanes, creating and widening bicycle lanes and widening existing sidewalks.
drewo - that wouldn't have helped in this case. More on the story here: http://qritiq.wordpress.com
Why isn't the driver, Keston Brown, identified by name here? All the news stories have done so. Granted, there'll be the usual racist trolls like Snoopy who'll say, "Aha, one of those people, I knew it!" But Brown doesn't deserve the protection of anonymity. He deserves to have his name hated and villified.
Some reports had it, some didn't. Just added.
This story is worse by the minute. So the drunk driver was catcalling the women, and when they didn't respond, he drove into them? What a waste of a human being. Crush his head in a vice.
Since I was struck by an SUV last April, I have noticed how frequently pedestrians get hit in NYC. This is a particularly tragic case, but I think there is a more widespread and endemic problem to be addressed... it's actually crazy that there isn't more of a public outcry. There need to be real consequences for reckless driving in our city!
People drive like idiots here -- it almost seems like they think it's a video game, when in fact people's lives are at risk. I had a best-case scenario (the driver stopped and gave me her insurance info, I survived) and even so have spent the better part of this last year battling with insurance companies and lawyers, and am going in for my second knee surgery in a couple of weeks. And mind you, I was crossing the street in the crosswalk, with the light. The woman killed yesterday (like the children in Chinatown) were actually ON THE SIDEWALK!
The woman who hit me walked away with nothing but higher insurance premiums, while my knee is pretty much permanently screwed up. It seems really petty to complain about that in the face of this recent tragedy, but I think there needs to be municipal and policy action on these kinds of incidents in general in order to decrease their frequency. Right now the whole thing is the province of lawyers, notorious bottom-feeders who get their cut and don't do much beyond the bare minimum for it.
Anyone know where to find good statistics about pedestrian-motor vehicle accidents in NY? Pedestrian advocacy groups?
Some basic resources:
http://www.rightofway.org/
http://www.transalt.org/
http://www.streetsblog.org/
This is a particularly tragic case, but I think there is a more widespread and endemic problem to be addressed... it's actually crazy that there isn't more of a public outcry.
The authority charged with enforcing traffic laws, the NYPD, are themselves part of the same car culture. Most of them work from inside a metal and glass cage too - their worldview is informed by the automobile. Those people outside of the cage, the pedestrians and cyclists, are the "other". Viewed from behind the barrier of the auto windshield, the NYPD is incapable of perceiving the daily, and dangerous, turf war between the pedestrian and the automobile.
True. What NYPD desperately needs is to put a lot of officers on bicycles. Maybe after the tenth or twentieth one gets mowed down in everyday traffic, they might be a little more aggressive about enforcement.
that is a great idea. who do we yell at to make this happen? in many situations a cops on bike are much quicker than cops in cars.
Anger aside, there are just so many reasons to put cops on bikes. How much money would NYPD save on gas and maintenance every year? Seattle has a ton of cops on bikes, a unit in every squad, who ride every day except when it's below freezing or snowing. It could help keep officers fitter and healthier, something sorely needed considering how flabby most NYPD cops are. Many bike cops say they make more arrests because they can sneak up silently but quickly on criminals, some of whom call them "ghosts" because of their stealth. They can split lanes and go places cruisers can't, like narrow alleys and even on the sidewalk when absolutely necessary. Theoretically, giving them the viewpoint of a bicyclist would make them more sensitive to blocked bicycle lanes and other traffic hazards. And maybe, just maybe they wouldn't have as much animosity toward Critical Mass. Give the CM ride a police bicycle escort and they'd still be able to arrest dangerous riders, but most of the riders wouldn't be as angry with NYPD. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll happen in this administration. Ray Kelly is very old school.
One of my favorite stories was in Bicycling magazine years ago. Some stupid redneck in a car decided to either throw something, honk his horn or otherwise startle a bicyclist (I can't remember). Only as he passed did the moron realize it was a bike cop on patrol, who gave chase. He couldn't catch the car, but as he was giving up, he saw a cruiser passing the other way and radioed for assistance. He really enjoyed the look on the face of the pulled-over redneck as he rode by on his bike.
Any description of the motorist other than "redneck?"
Thanks for the links -- & bike cops are a great idea, I think.
Meanwhile my heart goes out to Ramos's family... especially the kids. I hope we can prevent this from happening again.
Try Transportation Alternatives. If you can't find what you need on their website, you can try contacting them.
It's completely true. I witnessed my elderly neighbor be killed by a city bus that ran a red light a few years ago. The bus driver didn't even get reprimanded while she died horribly in the middle of 1st Ave. The police don't care because as far as they are concerned, the pedestrians are in their way. I completely support the idea of forcing cops, especially in Manhattan, to ride bikes or walk instead of driving. They just get stuck in traffic when they drive anyway, so they'd probably actually be more effective on bikes.
Has the mother of the driver told the press what a nice boy Keston is yet?
Nope, but the sister did: (2nd page of the nydailynews story)
"He's about to get married in June," said the sister, who gave her name as Ms. Jones and denied her brother had been drinking. "He was family-oriented. It was always all about the family."
I'm sick to death of family members denying facts of the story. How do you know if he was or wasn't drinking? If the cops arrested him he must have been drunk because otherwise they would have stated this was an accident and left it at that.
yeah, family oriented and alcohol don't go together AT ALL??!!! Idiots. And the leering/whistling out of the car harassing these women is soooo family oriented.
He will get his ass whipped in jail BIG TIME.
I suppose something good could come out of this ... maybe it will turn out that Gristedes's insurance policy had been canceled, and the damages award puts the company out of business. We can only hope.
How much worse can a story get? How much worse can a person be to do what Brown did with that van? This is straight up murder -two counts. And yeah, Gristedes is in for a devastating hit.
I agree with Peter's comment. Gristede's has got some of the meanest, angriest incompetents in this city working in their (ridiculously overpriced) stores. I have always figured it's because they treat staff so poorly that they can't keep anyone who could find a job elsewhere. Maybe putting a drunken multiple offender behind the wheel of a van to kill someone will be the end of them.
You know that if he hadn't been drunk and had simply been harrassing the women this would have been deemed an "accident" and he'd be off with a ticket at most.
I know, but a small part of me wonders if he would have accelerated into them if he weren't drunk. It's just a horrible, horrible story.
Yeah you‘re right Jen - I myself never murder anyone when I’m sober. But I kill oodles of folks when I’m drunk. You know how it is - I mean how many people have you offed after a few pints? I imagine you’ve probably lost count.
http://qritiq.wordpress.com
I wonder if this means anything, but they shut down online ordering.
Dear Gristedes Customers,
Gristedes wishes to inform you that we have suspended our provision for on-line ordering and delivery.
As always, be assured of our continued commitment to provide you with the finest of products at the very best of prices at any one of our stores.
If we can be of assistance in meeting your specialty item needs, please email us at:
customerservice@gristedes.com
Sincerely,
Gristedes Supermarkets of New York
If he wasn't drunk? No, he'd likely have been in more control of the van.
I work and live within a block from where this accident took place and I'm totally freaked out and pissed off about this story. Everyone involved in this story needs to go after the supermarket and needs to make sure that the city does what it's supposed to do - serve justice.
And he's only being charged with DWI and marijuana possession? Does New York City simply refuse to charge people with vehicular manslaughter? That's absurd and infuriating.
He's been charged with manslaughter too, according to more recent reports.
I blame GTA4.
endemic indeed.
minorities should not be driving, end of story.
r.i.p. may she and her family find peace and reunite someday.
Maybe 'Gritiq' should stop plugging his poorly-formatted blog and try and make better strawmen than 'what are you saying Jen, all drunk people are murderers?!'
If you want evidence of drunkenness impairing judgment, reason, coordination and leading to violence, I need only remind you of...I don't know, human history? Assuming Brown isn't a cold-blooded sociopath the fact that he just ambled out of his van and walked away seems to indicate he wasn't thinking straight and (gasp) perhaps his judgment was clouded! Crazy, I know.
wow Gritiq,getting hits on your blog plugging it off a dead pregnant woman. feels good huh,maybe now you should get those banner ads..
rocknrope has the right idea....right in the vice.