NEW YORK — Police are investigating after five people died in a crash on the Cross Island Parkway in Queens early Monday morning.
A neighbor’s surveillance camera picked up the loud crashing noise just minutes before police responded to a deadly collision before 6 a.m. that overturned a Mazda SUV.
“We heard the noise, and we knew it was a bad one. It was earth-shattering. You could hear the sounds of metal just crunching,” neighbor Frank Steele said.
“It’s horrible to say, but it’s common. It’s all the time and you pray when you hear it. You’re like, ‘Dear Lord, please don’t let anybody be dead,'” neighbor Edith Caruso said.
All five occupants in the Mazda were pronounced dead at the scene. Police say at least three of the adult passengers were found outside of the car.
It was in the northbound lane of the Cross Island Parkway at the Whitestone Expressway near Exit 36 South when officials say the male driver of a white Honda Pilot collided with them. The driver of the Honda was taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
Watch John Dias’ report
5 killed on Cross Island Parkway in Queens
“I never use that, that exit, at all. I just try to avoid it at all times. It’s just too dangerous for me,” neighbor Loredana Liggio said.
Liggio and her daughter Marissa were among the steady flow of passersby looking from the overpass at the crash site at a well-known bend in the highway with its own nickname.
“This is dead man’s curve,” said Rod Snedecor. “It’s a tight curve, it’s always been. A lot of accidents.”
“I believe at some point somebody actually went over there and painted that on there to make everybody aware … They spraypainted ‘dead man’s curve,'” Marissa Liggio said.
“Terrible tragedy and it’s always this area,” said Mike DiMarco. “Cars go around this bend so quickly and I don’t think that people realize how sharp of a turn it really is.”
When Florance Ruggiero saw the crash from her doorstep, her heart sunk.
“Kind of you knew by looking at the cars. No one had to tell you,” she said. “I’ve seen many accidents here. I’ve lived here all my life.”
“Everybody knows it as a dead man’s curve, and it’s a sharp curve,” Whitestone resident Gene Crowley said.
This deadly crash isn’t the first one Crowley has witnessed living in the area.
“Last summer, a motorcyclist got killed. He hit the wall,” he said.
Watch Kristie Keleshian’s report
5 killed after 2 vehicles crash on Cross Island Parkway in Queens
Even with a 25 mph speed limit sign, neighbors say the curve creeps up on drivers.
“If you don’t know the curve is there, you’re gonna speed,” Crowley said.
Neighbors say more warning signs are needed to prevent future accidents.
“We wanted lights, flashing lights. They need to put a sign — ‘dangerous curve.’ Not this close, they need to do it further back,” Ruggiero said.
Northbound lanes at the curve were closed for seven hours Monday morning as police investigated, shifting slow-moving traffic to Exit 36 North.
“First thing in new year and this what happens. It’s awful,” Marissa Liggio said.
“Long story short, they really need to do something here,” Snedecor said.
At this time, police still haven’t identified the five individuals who died and are still investigating what speed the cars were driving. It’s still unclear who’s at fault.
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John Dias
2024-01-02 04:17:00
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