Speeding SUV Strikes 2 Men on Manhattan Median, Killing Upper West Side Friends

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 25

Michael Saint-Hilaire, 35, and Jason Negron, 46, were hit around 6 p.m. on May 15 while standing on a median near 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue during a regular Friday gathering with friends.
Police said Elvin Suarez, 61, was speeding a black Mercedes-Benz SUV toward his Upper West Side home, grazed the passenger side of a white SUV two blocks away and then appeared to accelerate.
The crash shattered a familiar neighborhood ritual on a block where both men were well known, with Saint-Hilaire on his parked motorcycle moments earlier and Negron still in his work uniform.
The account adds personal detail to a fatal Upper West Side crash, shifting focus from the vehicle's path to the two men whose deaths reverberated through their longtime community.

Two community members are dead. Is this an isolated incident or an inevitable result of the city’s current traffic policies?

Will this fatal crash finally force New York to redesign its streets to protect pedestrians from speeding cars?

With a driver facing multiple manslaughter charges, will this case set a new precedent for drunk driving penalties in New York?