Victim In Upper East Side Crash Identified; Driver Arrested: NYPD

Upper East Side NY

25 January, 2022

9:50 AM

Description

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Police have identified the victim in Monday's fatal crash on East 76th Street as an Upper East Side woman who lived just a couple of blocks away. Udeshi Shruti Sundeep, 51, was killed Monday morning when the driver of an Audi sedan struck her in the intersection of East 76th Street while turning onto Third Avenue, police said. Sundeep lived on East 76th Street near Second Avenue, according to authorities. Hours later on Monday, police also announced that they had arrested the driver, Connette Bercik: a 59-year-old resident of Oldwick, New Jersey. Bercik was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian, police said. Responding to a 911 call at 6:37 a.m. Monday, police found Sundeep unconscious and unresponsive, with trauma to the body and head. She was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Initially, police announced no charges against Bercik, saying she had stayed at the scene. Local officials expressed outrage about Sundeep's death, which was followed just hours later by another fatal crash on the Upper West Side that took the life of a 43-year-old woman. Taurino Rosendo Morales, a 37-year-old delivery worker, was killed on Christmas Eve when a box truck driver sped into the intersection at East 61st Street and Third Avenue. (Workers Justice Project) Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said that the city's recent spate of traffic deaths "simply can't continue," while City Councilmember Julie Menin tweeted that "We need immediate investment in traffic calming measures at this site." Some residents sounded exasperated by the city's slow pace when it comes to redesigning streets. "So do it," one person wrote in response to Menin. "Tomorrow." Since 2011, at least 12 people have been injured in a dozen crashes at the same intersection of Third Avenue and East 76th Street, according to city data. Those injured included eight pedestrians, two drivers and two cyclists. Monday's crashes also came weeks after a pair of fatal collisions on the Upper East Side took the lives of three men — all of them immigrant workers, including two delivery cyclists — and spurred calls for safety reforms. Mayor Eric Adams vowed last week to redesign 1,000 intersections across the city, adding raised crosswalks, bike corrals, turn signals and other traffic-calming measures to improve safety. Related coverage: Driver Hits, Kills Woman On Upper East Side: Police2nd Deadly Upper East Side Crash Spurs Calls For ReformUpper East Side Crash Victim Memorialized Amid Anger Over Death'Traffic Violence Crisis': City Pledges 1K Safer Intersections