Left-turning SUV driver kills elder
A Mercedes SUV driver turned left off Park and hit an 85-year-old man walking with the signal in the crosswalk. Daylight, clear weather, one corner, one death.
What We Know
According to the police report, a man driving a 2019 Mercedes SUV south on Park Avenue turned left onto East 91st Street and hit an 85-year-old man who was crossing in the intersection with the signal. The pedestrian had head and internal injuries and died at the scene on a clear Monday afternoon.
People
Pedestrian killed
Age 85; Male; Pedestrian location: Pedestrian/Bicyclist/Other Pedestrian at Intersection; Pedestrian action: Crossing With Signal; Injury: Killed
Vehicles
SUV
2019 MERZ -CAR/SUV; Occupants: 1; Pre-crash movement: Making Left Turn; Travel direction: South; Point of impact: Left Front Quarter Panel; Damage: No Damage; Driver license status: Licensed
A left turn as he crossed Park Avenue
At about 2:42 p.m. on Dec. 1, a driver making a left turn onto Park Avenue hit Janusz Gregory Gorzynski as he crossed Park Avenue from east to west at East 91st Street. The city crash record says the pedestrian was at the intersection and crossing with the signal.
The crash record reports one pedestrian death and no other injuries.
Park Avenue at East 91st Street
The crash happened at Park Avenue and East 91st Street in Manhattan, near Gorzynski’s Upper East Side home.
CrashCountNYC’s Park Avenue streetwide context shows 1,481 crashes, 847 injuries, 55 serious injuries and 2 deaths on Park Avenue in Manhattan since 2022.
Janusz Gregory Gorzynski’s life and work
Police identified the man killed as Janusz Gregory Gorzynski, 85. West Side Spirit described him as an Upper East Side psychiatrist who worked for years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and later maintained a private practice in the neighborhood.
The article reported that Gorzynski was born in Warsaw in 1940, survived the Nazi occupation, volunteered at All Souls Church in retirement, and supported philanthropic causes.
Accounts differ on the vehicle description
West Side Spirit reported that police described the driver as a 67-year-old man in a 2019 Mercedes Sprinter van. The city crash record classifies the involved vehicle as a 2019 Mercedes station wagon or SUV and records the driver as licensed in New York.
The same police accounts said the driver remained at the scene and that no arrests were reported.
Hospital transport, investigation and memorial plans
EMS took Gorzynski to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.
A memorial gathering was scheduled for Dec. 12 at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on Madison Avenue, with a Christian Memorial Mass planned for spring 2026 at the Church of St. Thomas More.
Press Articles
CrashCount has not found any press coverage for this fatal crash.