By Kathianne Boniello
One woman was killed and eight others were hurt in Bayside Monday afternoon when an automobile was propelled into the front steps of North Fork Bank after a multiple-car accident at the intersection of Bell and Northern boulevards, police said.
The victim, 75, whose name was not released, was sitting on the steps of the bank, on the northeast corner of the large intersection, when she was hit by a Lincoln Town Car, authorities said. The bank entrance is near a busy corner bus stop about a block from the 111th Precinct.
Lt. Ric Remz said police and emergency workers had to lift the Lincoln Town Car off the woman to get her medical attention. She was taken to North Shore Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
The Lincoln, which was left on its side after rescue workers retrieved the woman, hit the bank steps with such force it knocked a portion of the brick wall lining the entrance apart.
The accident, in which at least eight other people were hurt, happened at about 4:45 p.m. and blocked traffic around the busy intersection of Bell and Northern boulevards for several hours. Police had a one-block radius around the intersection cordoned off from vehicle traffic.
Remz said the nine victims were taken to North Shore Hospital and New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, most without life- threatening injuries. At least five of the victims were pedestrians, Remz said.
Employees inside the North Fork Bank were shaken by the incident, and bank vice president Judy Limpert was visibly moved after the accident. Limpert is also co-president of the Bayside Business Association.
“The car came and pinned her,” Limpert said of the woman who was killed. “She got thrown against the door.”
111th Police Precinct Community Affairs Officer Santo Elardo said the chain reaction occurred when several vehicles attempting to turn left onto Bell Boulevard from Northern were rear-ended.
Elardo said the first vehicle to be hit from the rear was pushed across Northern Boulevard and ended up near the Mobil gas station on the opposite corner from the bank.
The Lincoln Town Car, which had pushed the first car forward, was also hit from behind and moved closer to the bank, Elardo said, A fourth car eventually crashed as well, shoving the Lincoln Town Car into the bank, he said.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
