By Tien-Shun Lee
At the funeral services Tuesday for Caprice Bush, one of two bank workers who died on a Queens Boulevard median after being hit by an SUV, family and friends tearfully remembered her as a sweet, happy young woman who liked to write poetry and have a good time. “She was my best friend. She was an exceptionally sweet girl,” said Carlotta Klein, 24, choking back tears before entering the Carter Community Church at 112-25 167th St. in Jamaica, where Bush’s funeral services were held on Monday night and Tuesday morning. According to police, Bush, 23, of Jamaica died instantly around 1:15 p.m. last Thursday when a gold Subaru Forester traveling southbound on 78th Avenue ran a red light and struck a silver BMW SUV traveling westbound on Queens Boulevard, sending it flying into the air before it flipped over, hitting her and her co-worker friend, Sharon Rivers, 34, of the Bronx. Rivers was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where she died around 1 a.m. Friday. The drivers of both vehicles and a passenger who was in the Subaru were also taken to local hospitals, where they were treated and released, police said. Rivers and Bush were the 81st and 82nd people to die on Queens Boulevard since 1993, said Tom Cocola, a spokesman for the city Department of Transportation. Their deaths were the third and fourth on the so-called “Boulevard of Death” this year. In 2002 there were two deaths on the boulevard, down from four deaths in 2001. According to Cocola, the DOT began implementing changes to the boulevard in 2001 to try to make it safer. “A preliminary investigation by both us and the Police Department shows that, unfortunately, this accident was caused by someone jumping the traffic light,” Cocola said. “None of the engineering measures could have been applicable to this situation.” The driver of the Subaru Forester, Valeri Frumkin, 63, of Kew Gardens was issued a summons for running a red light, police said. An investigation of the accident is ongoing, and no criminal charges have been brought against Frumkin so far, said a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney. Bush and Rivers, who both worked for the J.P. Morgan Chase mortgage department at 118-35 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills, were on their lunch break when the accident occurred. The two co-workers, who acquaintances said were close friends despite their 11-year age difference, went to Key Foods last Thursday as they regularly did, to buy some lunch and groceries. “They were regular customers. They would be in here all the time for lunch,” said Ruben Negron, the manager of the Key Foods at 116-34 Queens Blvd. Just before the accident, the two had wanted to buy some Entenmann’s lemon crunch cakes and a cheese strudel, which they thought were selling at two for $5, Negron said. When the cashier told them it was only the cookies that were two for $5, one of the women said, “I’ll meet you outside,” while the other went to put the cakes and strudel back. Outside the pair crossed half of Queens Boulevard and were waiting on the median by 78th Avenue for the light to change when the Subaru ran the red light and crashed into the BMW, said police. “I saw bags of food fly in the air,” said Howard Kuo, who was in front of Liberty Travel on the corner of 78th Avenue and Queens Boulevard as he watched the accident happen. Another witness, Anthony Simone, 19, of Flushing, had just gotten off the Q46 bus when he heard a screech and saw the silver BMW fly as high as a lighted pedestrian crossing sign and flip over. “I’m just glad I wasn’t crossing the street,” Simone said. Francine Stock, a receptionist at Liberty Travel, said she was even more apprehensive about Queens Boulevard after seeing the crash. “I have to cross the boulevard a few times a day, and it makes me very nervous,” she said. “It’s very dangerous here.” Norbert and Estelle Chwat, the co-presidents of the Forest Hills Action League who dedicated a Japanese red maple tree to all the victims of Queens Boulevard accidents in December, are planning to hold a candlelight vigil on July 31 at 6 p.m. at the corner of 78th Avenue and Queens Boulevard to commemorate the recent deaths on the thoroughfare. “We need to have for this boulevard a law enforcement presence,” Estelle Chwat said. “The islands are too narrow. I know as a pedestrian it is terrifying to cross the boulevard.” DOT’s Cocola said since 2001 more than more than 400 signs have been put up warning pedestrians to be alert while crossing the road, red lights have been lengthened to give pedestrians more time to cross, 4-foot-high fencing has been erected on the medians to prevent jaywalking, and the speed limit has been reduced to a uniform 30 mph. But none of these measures was able to prevent the deadly accident. Employees of J.P. Morgan Chase and members of the victims’ families set up a memorial with balloons, candles and flowers Friday on the traffic island median where the accident occurred. “We’re all trying to figure out what happened, and I couldn’t figure it out so I got down on my knees and had a talk with God,” said Bush’s uncle, Vincent Bush, at the Carter Community Church hall filled with Bush’s friends and family, many dressed in lavender purple, Bush’s favorite color. “The Lord said she (Bush) wants everyone to know Sharon’s up there with her and she’ll be all right from this point on,” Vincent Bush said. “She wants everyone to stop crying for her because she’ll see you again.” Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.
