The new year began with carnage on the streets of Queens and Midtown Monday morning.
Fire Department and NYPD sources confirmed that five individuals died in a violent car crash on the northbound Cross Island Parkway near the Whitestone Expressway southbound ramp in Whitestone, Queens at about 5:52 a.m. on Jan. 1.
Numerous FDNY units and the 109th Precinct rushed to the scene after receiving calls regarding individuals trapped inside a crashed vehicle.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police learned that two vehicles, a Honda driven by a man and a Mazda with five occupants, collided at the location.
First responders pulled the injured Honda driver and rushed him to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in critical condition.
Meanwhile, all five individuals in the Mazda were pronounced dead at the scene, police reported. No information on their ages or genders are yet available.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, police reported.
Earlier on New Year’s morning, eight people and one officer in Midtown were injured when a reckless driver caused mayhem while fleeing police custody.
Law enforcement sources said the trouble began at about 1:34 a.m. on Jan. 1 at the corner of West 33rd Street and 7th Avenue, where officers from the Midtown South Precinct attempted to intervene in a dispute that occurred inside a vehicle.
Moments later, one of the participants in the dispute, a 44-year-old man, decided to take off inside the vehicle, striking multiple cars along the way while traveling at a high rate of speed.
Along the way, he also took out a curbside food truck, under which a 39-year-old woman had become pinned.
Police were able to finally stop the driver at the corner of 9th Avenue and West 34th Street, where they took him into custody. EMS rushed him to Bellevue Hospital in critical but stable condition, with police charges pending against him.
Meanwhile, authorities noted, the 39-year-old woman and six additional pedestrians injured in the mayhem were also removed to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. One officer involved in the pursuit was also taken to NYU Langone Hospital for treatment of injuries not considered life-threatening.
The investigation remains ongoing, police reported.
