Highway of Death: Two Killed in Two Incidents on FDR Drive Only Three Days Apart
The first death occurred early Feb. 3 when a Tesla slammed into a guardrail, killing the 19-year-old driver. The second death came three days later when a 61-year-old pedestrian trying to cross the highway, was struck by two vehicles and died.
| 07 Feb 2025 | 06:46
Aerial photo of the FDR Drive crash near East 75th Street, where 19-year-old Johency Nunez was killed when the Tesla she was driving, reportedly over 100 mph, crashed into a guardrail. Police said Nunez was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. A 26-year-old male passenger survived the crash. (
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A lithium-ion battery burst into flames in a deadly crash on the FDR Drive in the early-morning hours of Feb. 3. Nineteen-year-old Johency Nunez from the Fort George neighborhood in northern Manhattan was killed when she was ejected from the car she was driving, police said. A 26-old-man survived the crash. (
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The block in the Fort George neighborhood in northern Manhattan where 19-year old Johency Nunez lived. Police said she was the driver of a Tesla that crashed on the FDR Drive on Feb. 3, killing her. (
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For the second time in three days, there was a fatality in the early- morning hours on the FDR Drive. The most recent incident involved a pedestrian who was trying to cross the busy highway just after 5 a.m. on Feb. 6. The first incident came just before 3 a.m. on Feb. 3, when a Tesla slammed into a guardrail near East 75th Street, ejecting both occupants of the car, killing the driver.
On Feb. 7, police identified the driver as 19-year-old Johency Nunez from 510 W. 188th St., which is in the Fort George neighborhood of northern Manhattan.
The pedestrian who was killed on Feb. 6 was trying to cross the FDR from west to east near the East 53rd Street entrance around 5:06 a.m. when he was struck by the mirror on a Toyota RAV4 driven by a 58-year-old man heading south. He was then struck a second time by a Ford van driven by a 26-year-old man also heading south.
EMS found the 61-year-old victim unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to his head and body and transported him to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released as police seek to notify a next of kin
Both of the drivers remained at the scene, and there are no arrests at this time. The investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad.
That fatality came three days after the deadly crash in which a Tesla, reportedly speeding northbound at over 100 mph, slammed into a guardrail near East 75th Street. The 19-year-old woman who was driving was ejected and was pronounced dead at the scene. A 26-year-old male passenger was also ejected but was transported to nearby NY- Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center and was listed in stable condition.
The impact with the guardrail caused the Tesla to flip over and the lithium-ion battery in the all-electric vehicle to burst into flames. The FDNY called about 60 firefighters and EMS units to the scene plus a Hazmat unit to help extinguish the flames from the battery.
Police said no other vehicles were involved in the crash.