Driver Charged After Riverside Boulevard Pedestrian Death
Police charged a 64-year-old Staten Island driver with failure to yield after a 4:12 p.m. Riverside Boulevard crash recorded by the city as a failure-to-yield collision killed Leonard Sugin weeks later.
What We Know
On Oct. 26, 2023, at 4:12 p.m., a driver traveling south on Riverside Boulevard hit two pedestrians crossing westbound at West 70th Street, according to police accounts reported by Patch and West Side Rag. City records list failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor and record one pedestrian killed and one injured. The man who died was identified as Leonard Sugin, 89. An 87-year-old woman was injured. Police said the driver stayed at the scene. Both pedestrians were taken to New York Presbyterian Weill Medical Center; Sugin died there on Nov. 23 from injuries sustained in the crash. Police later announced a failure-to-yield charge against the driver. Public sources differ on the driver's name order and vehicle description: the city record lists a taxi, while local outlets described a 2019 Cadillac Escalade SUV.
A crosswalk crash became fatal weeks later
At 4:12 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2023, city records place the crash at Riverside Boulevard and West 70th Street in Manhattan. The official record lists one pedestrian killed and one pedestrian injured, and records failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor.
Police told local outlets that the driver was traveling south on Riverside Boulevard when he hit Leonard Sugin, 89, and an 87-year-old woman as they crossed westbound at West 70th Street. Police said the driver stayed at the scene.
Where the crash happened
The crash happened at Riverside Boulevard and West 70th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side. West Side Rag reported that the intersection is controlled by a stop sign and has a crosswalk, and the city record places the fatal pedestrian at the intersection, crossing in a marked crosswalk without a signal.
CrashCountNYC's street context for West 70th Street shows 58 crashes, 36 injuries, 6 serious injuries and 2 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Leonard Sugin lived near the intersection
Patch and West Side Rag identified the man who died as Leonard Sugin, 89, and reported that he lived on West 70th Street near the crash scene.
Both pedestrians were taken to New York Presbyterian Weill Medical Center. Officials said Sugin died there on Nov. 23, 2023, from injuries sustained in the crash.
Public records differ on the vehicle description
The city crash record describes the involved vehicle as a taxi and a 2019 Cadillac car/SUV, with the driver licensed in New York and going straight south before the crash.
Patch and West Side Rag, citing police, described the driver as a 64-year-old Staten Island man in a 2019 Cadillac Escalade SUV. Patch reported his name as Malik Mohammad; West Side Rag reported it as Mohammad Malik.
Police later announced a failure-to-yield charge
The official crash record lists failure to yield right-of-way for the driver. Local outlets reported that police announced on Feb. 1, 2024, that the driver had been arrested and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian.