Italian Jazz Singer Killed While Crossing Street In Manhattan

Daniela D'ercole (via)

An Italian jazz singer was hit and killed by a car while crossing the street in Manhattan late last night. Daniela D'Ercole, 32, was struck by a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer SUV minutes before midnight, and pronounced dead on arrival at St. Luke’s hospital.

D'Ercole was walking across Broadway and 106th Street when she was hit; no charges have been filed against the driver so far. D'Ercole, born and raised in Italy, had just performed last month at Queens restaurant Papazzio, and in Montclair, NJ, at the Trumpets Jazz Club and Restaurant.

According to her website, D'Ercole began her career when she sang on an Italian TV program at age seven; she said that as she developed, she was greatly influenced by American-style music, including gospel, musicals and Big Band-era songs. In a 2006 interview, Italian pop artist Mario Rosini called her "a splendid interpreter, one of the best testimonies of this genre.”

You can listen to songs from her first album "The Peacocks" here, and more clips of her music below:

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Ben Yakas in News on November 11, 2011 2:50 PM

Comments [rss]

U.N. Owen

If only ALL tourists would....😒... I've had enough of them...

edgie168

Would what? Contribute more to our local economy, or.. ?

JacksBack72

What?! No $500. fine?!

spincter

only if 1 cat or 1 dog is involved

taracorinne

While her death is tragic, this article doesn't mention who had the green light in this situation. If she was crossing in the middle of a street and not at a crosswalk and when the driver had a green light, she was acting reckless.

I see people ALL THE TIME crossing streets in Manhattan with no regard for having a walk signal and/or checking the road for drivers who aren't paying attention.

While a driver going through a red light is at fault, remember: a one ton vehicle versus a 150lb pedestrian will always result in the 1 ton vehicle winning. Even a driver paying attention to the road and driving the speed limit still takes a few seconds to come to a complete stop which may be too late for a reckless pedestrian.

Too sad for all involved.

bggb

Have you seen that stat posted around the city? The one that points out that if a car going the speed limit (30 mph) hits a pedestrian they have an 80% chance of survival.

But when the car is going 40 (which NYC drivers do on a regular basis), that survival rate drops to 30%.

30.

While a driver going through a red light is at fault, remember: a one ton vehicle versus a 150lb pedestrian will always result in the 1 ton vehicle winning.

That is a warning to drivers, not to pedestrians. If a pedestrian is stupid enough to step in front of a green light, that is their death wish. But if a driver cannot manage to operate their car in a safe manner, they shouldn't be allowed to endanger the lives of others.

bggb

Sad. RIP.

rnrnys

I'll pull the switch.

Guest

Italian Jazz or an Italian singer of Jazz?

Guest

Unfortunate, she reminded me a lot of Flora Purim.

zampano

Lemme guess.
No criminality is suspected.

And the beat goes on...

whodiditandran

"no charges have been filed against the driver so far"

bggb

You come right back here just as soon as charges get filed. We'll be waiting patiently.

While we wait, let us look at some stats:

Fatal Crashes (2 killed this week, 132 this year, 19 drivers charged*)
* Based on latest available reports
http://www.streetsblog.org/201...