By Michael Morton
The victim, identified by police as Ralph Onorato, 76, was taken to New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he later died, according to the hospital.
The cab driver, Sol Smuller, also 76, received minor injuries and was not charged, police said.
According to police, Smuller told them he was driving on Second Avenue when his gas pedal got stuck and the brakes failed. As a result, he careened into two cars before striking a newsstand near 57th Street, which fell onto Onorato, who was walking by. A worker at the newsstand was trapped, but a doorman pulled him to safety, police said. The New York Times identified the worker as Nurul “Bobby” Amin of Ozone Park.
Onorato's wake was to be held at Astoria's Thomas Quinn and Sons Funeral Home two days before New Year's from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Although he lived at 303 E. 57th St. in Manhattan when he died, Onorato and his family used to run a fruit stand in Astoria, according to state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who is not related.
Smuller is a lifetime cabbie who had retired several years ago but then started driving again a couple of days each week to earn extra money, said a neighbor, Selma Wahl, 76. Police said Smuller passed tests after the accident demonstrating he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
He also has a clean driving record, according to a spokesman for the Taxi and Limousine Commission, which suspended Smuller's license until the police finished examining his car. That process usually takes a week or two, and while any charges in such cases are usually filed right away, the police have the option of changing their mind, a law enforcement source said.
“At the end of the investigation, we'll know whether he'll be charged,” a spokesman for the Police Department said. “Right now we're treating it as an accident.”
Reached at his residence on Little Neck Parkway, Smuller declined to comment.
Wahl, Smuller's neighbor, said he had driven her around town so she could go shopping, always without incident.
“He's a wonderful driver and a wonderful person,” Wahl said.
But some have questioned Smuller's claim that his gas pedal got stuck.
While such problems occurred years ago, it rarely happens on the fuel-injected Ford Crown Victorias of the city's yellow cab fleet, people in the business say.
“It's rare,” said Gary Seifts, a manager of Ann Service Corp., a company in Manhattan that deploys yellow cabs.
“Years ago I did encounter it, but I haven't seen it stick now since I can't remember when,” he said, adding that a “good driver” could bypass a stuck pedal by turning off the ignition or putting the car in neutral. A stuck pedal is “not a good excuse for an accident,” he said.
Smuller's cab was a 2003 model, the spokesman at the Taxi and Limousine Commission said, but it could not be determined if he had experienced previous mechanical troubles with the car. The Taxi and Limousine Commission was unable to track down the company for which he drives. The spokesman said the commission had no age limits or additional requirements for older drivers.
Cabbies must obtain a valid state driver's license, but while they fall under a different classification than private drivers, both groups take the same test.
The state Department of Motor Vehicles also has no restrictions or requirements for older drivers, but does make drivers renew their licenses every eight years.
Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
