A man is dead after a “hit and run” on the Lower East Side early this morning. It happened near the intersection of Delancey Street and Clinton Street.
When police arrived on the scene at about 3:30 a.m, they found a 49-year-old man, who had experienced severe head trauma. He was declared dead.
The driver had taken off in an unknown direction.
More to come…
UPDATE 9:34 a.m. The Daily News describes the victim, known as “Johnny, as a homeless man who uses a wheelchair. More from the story:
Neighbors said Johnny was a severe alcoholic but a friendly presence who had a prosthetic leg after losing the limb to complications from diabetes. “Everyone in the neighborhood knows him,” said Barakat Nahshal, 22, a clerk at the Fancy Tobacco Shop near the corner where the victim was found. “He’s on the street drunk 24/7.” Nahshal said that since he started working at the store a month ago he saw Johnny passed out on the sidewalk two times. “(The ambulance) is always coming to pick him up for drinking,” he said. “This is a usual thing. I thought they were going to take him to the hospital but this time he’s dead.” Friends said they tried to support him through his struggle with alcohol. “He’s been in out of the hospital a few times,” said Aaron Grosser, 52. “When he gets out, we try to get him clean clothes and a shower. He’s an alcoholic but what the hell, who isn’t?”
Police do not have a description of the vehicle.
UPDATE 4:09 p.m. Here’s a statement from City Council member Margaret Chin:
This is a heartbreaking loss, and I urge NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill to conduct a full investigation into the senseless hit-and-run incident that caused the death of one of the most vulnerable members of our community… Thank you to all of the Lower East Side neighbors who tried to help a man in need. To my Lower Manhattan community: if you know of anyone who is in need of shelter or social services, please reach out to my office.
