New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A Queenboro off-ramp has been a big factor, if not the ultimate cause, in the death of a second person in a two-week time period. A mother of two who crashed due to a dangerous off-ramp died in the hospital, according to sources.

The 40-year-old woman happens to be the second death caused by crashes from the off-ramp. The last fatal car accident in the exact same location occurred only a week before. In the previous accident, one with very similar circumstances, a car lost control coming off of the ramp and hit a pedestrian, killing that person instantly.

“They should definitely fix that bridge exit. I think she would be alive today if they would have fixed it,” a sister-in-law of the victim said. The victim was survived by a husband and two teenage boys.

She was a passenger in the Volkswagen driven by a 39-year-old man, when it lost control while leaving the bridge into Queens. The vehicle hit the guardrail near the end of the outer-lane exit ramp and slid across Queens Plaza South, slamming into two storefronts. The accident severed the left arm of the driver and the passenger suffered severe head wounds. When the victim died, her estranged husband was at her side.

Family and friends blame the accident on the ramp, part of a $44 million bridge-plaza reconstruction project. The city is already planning to reconstruct the ramp as part of improvements to Queens Plaza North and South. The process will take around three months.

In the meantime, traffic has been funneled into a single lane of Queens Plaza South, while workers attempt to make the off-ramps safer, New York Injury Attorneys have learned.

A 35-year-old driver suffered a similar accident coming off the same ramp not long ago, even to the point of severing his arm, as happened to a subsequent driver down the ramp. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital.

“I hear there’s been another crash,” he said to a New York Injury Attorney. “I’m in a lot of pain,” he added later.

Continue reading "Another Car Accident on the Queensboro Off-Ramp Takes a Life" »

Carlos Castro, the Portuguese celebrity journalist who was found murdered and mutilated in his Times Square in New York City hotel room told friends that he was being threatened by his handsome companion just days before the murder, police said.

Castro, age 65, who was a prominent gay activist and a society columnist, was beaten to death, and had his scrotum severed with a broken wine bottle during a fight with his former lover. Renato Seabra, the 20-year old suspected murderer was discovered hours after the brawl at Roosevelt Hospital, sporting wounds that may have been from a suicide attempt. He is now in police custody at Bellevue Hospital psychiatric ward, according to a source.

Investigators have stated that they believe Seabra, who is a former Portuguese reality-show contestant, was stringing Castro along. They also believe he attacked Castro when he wouldn’t buy Seabra bigger gifts. Seabra had told friends back home that he wasn’t gay; he was merely using Castro as a route to fame and fortune.

Castro’s body was found when friends in Queens of the journalist became concerned and went to his hotel room to check on him. Reportedly, Castro had confided in his friends that he was scared to sleep in the hotel room with Seabra present, stated a reporter.

Seabra disappeared for a few hours after the murder, and turned up at a local hospital around 11 pm. The cab driver who had driven Seabra to the hospital saw news reports and dialed 911 after recognizing Seabra’s picture. A few minutes later, a nurse also contacted authorities after viewing his photo on the news. Charges like wrongful death are pending.

Continue reading "Murdered Portuguese Journalist Admitted His Lover Was Scaring Him" »