Hit-and-run driver kills nurse at Sunset Park crossing
Police said a driver in a 2014 Cadillac hit Jiayi Zheng at Third Avenue and 55th Street on Aug. 29, and colleagues said the 28-year-old nurse had just finished an overnight shift at NYU Langone-Brooklyn.
Reported by press, not yet linked to NYC police crash records. This may change when new official records become available or when matching details are reviewed.
Location under review
What We Know
Jiayi Zheng, 28, was crossing Third Avenue at 55th Street in Sunset Park on Saturday morning when police said a driver in a 2014 Cadillac hit her and did not remain at the scene. Reporters citing surveillance video described the driver as speeding; some accounts said the driver went through a red light, while ABC7 reported Zheng had the right of way. Medics took Zheng to NYU Langone-Brooklyn, where she worked as a nurse and had just finished an overnight shift. She died at the hospital. Police had made no arrest by the following day, and advocates renewed calls for a Third Avenue redesign after citing 11 walking or biking deaths along the two-mile corridor since 2014.
A driver left after hitting a nurse in the crosswalk
Police said officers responded just after 7:30 a.m. at Third Avenue and 55th Street in Sunset Park. They said a driver in a 2014 Cadillac was traveling south on Third Avenue and hit Jiayi Zheng as she crossed in the intersection. The driver did not stay, and EMS took Zheng to NYU Langone-Brooklyn with severe head and body trauma, where she was pronounced dead.
News 12, the New York Post and the Daily News cited surveillance video in describing the driver as speeding. The Post said the driver went through a red light, the Daily News described Zheng waiting for the signal before entering the crosswalk, and ABC7 reported that Zheng had the right of way.
Jiayi Zheng was returning from hospital work
Zheng was 28 and worked as a nurse at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn. News 12 reported that hospital sources said she had finished an overnight shift and was heading home when the driver hit her; Gothamist reported that police said she lived six blocks away.
NYU Langone said it was deeply saddened by Zheng's death and called it a tragic loss. UFT Vice President Anne Goldman, who leads the Federation of Nurses/UFT, said, "We grieve her loss and honor her memory by recognizing the kindness and compassion she brought to our work and our community."
Reports differed on the Cadillac investigators connected to the case
Several police-based reports described the involved vehicle as a 2014 Cadillac sedan. The New York Post and CBS New York reported that investigators were seeking a black Cadillac with Pennsylvania plates, while the Daily News described surveillance footage as showing a Cadillac Escalade.
Third Avenue is a focus of long-running safety demands
The crash happened on the Third Avenue corridor in Sunset Park, near NYU Langone-Brooklyn and beneath the elevated expressway. Transportation Alternatives said six pedestrians and five cyclists had died along the two-mile stretch since 2014.
Advocates said the city presented a redesign plan for the corridor in 2023 but had not implemented it. After Zheng's death, DOT and Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would move forward with a Third Avenue redesign.
Police continued the search after the fatal hit-and-run
Police had made no arrest as of the next day, and the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad was continuing the investigation. CBS New York reported that police asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.