Three people were struck by vehicles, one fatally, as they crossed city streets within a 26-hour span, police said Saturday.
The collision carnage began around 4 a.m. in Queens on Friday when a city Department of Education employee was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver and ended at 6 a.m. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where a man was hospitalized with critical injuries after being mowed down by a truck, cops said.
DOE employee Darryl Younger was about to start his early morning shift as a school lunch loader and handler around 4:40 a.m. Friday in Long Island City, Queens when he was struck by a passing car near the corner of Jackson and 50th Aves., police and co-workers said.
Responding cops found Younger, 58, sprawled out on the asphalt. EMS rushed him to Weill-Cornell Medical Center, but he could not be saved.
The driver who struck Younger never stopped and was still being sought by police Saturday, cops said.
Younger was just a few blocks from the DOE’s Office of School Food and Nutrition on Vernon Blvd. in Long Island City where he worked, union officials said.
“Darryl was a caring and loving person who was always willing to help his colleagues and never hesitated to lend a hand,” Shaun Francois, president of Local 372 NYC Board of Education Employees said. “In this terrible tragedy, we lost a true gentleman who advocated for his fellow loaders and handlers.”
Younger loaded up and delivered school lunches to city schools, co-workers said. He was hired by the Department of Education in 2014.
Roughly sixteen hours later, a second man was struck down by a car in Queens, this time in Flushing, according to police.
The 66-year-old man was crossing 41st Ave. near 147th St. about 8:50 p.m. Friday when he was struck by a passing grey 2013 Toyota Highlander.
The Highlander was heading east on 41st Ave. when it struck the pedestrian, cops said. EMS rushed the victim to New York-Presbyterian Queens, where he was listed in critical condition.
He was not expected to survive, cops said.
The driver of the Highlander remained at the scene. No charges were immediately filed.
At 6 a.m. Saturday, a truck struck and critically injured a 47-year-old man crossing Second Ave. near E. 82nd St. on the Upper East Side, cops said.
EMS rushed the victim to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in cardiac arrest. He was listed in critical condition Saturday.
The truck driver remained at the scene. No charges were filed.
As of Thursday 30 people have been fatally struck by vehicles in the city this year — one more than this time last year.
Pedestrian fatalities in the city dropped last year, from 126 in 2021 to 118, cops said.