A 27-year-old woman who was struck by a wrong-way driver while crossing a street in New York City has died. She had been planning her upcoming wedding, according to local news reports.
Authorities identified the victim as Valerie Schoeck, who had recently moved to New York City from Cambridge, Massachusetts, the New York Police Department confirmed.
The fatal crash occurred just after 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, near the intersection of Morton Street and Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village, ABC 7 NY and NBC New York reported.
Police said the driver, a 61-year-old man, was operating a 2020 GMC van with New Jersey plates rented from a nearby business. He had just exited the company’s garage when the van struck Schoeck.
Witnesses told reporters that the stretch of road lacks visible signs indicating it is one-way, contributing to frequent confusion among motorists.
The rental agent who had loaned the van to the driver told ABC 7 NY that he didn’t see the crash unfold but heard “a lot of commotion.”
“I looked outside. I saw somebody on the ground and they were already giving her CPR,” he recalled. “So I just called the ambulance.”
Philip Mortillaro, a longtime neighborhood resident and business owner, said wrong-way driving on that block is a recurring problem.
“A lot of the times, cars come down Morton Street and make a left onto Seventh Avenue, especially if there’s no traffic,” he told CBS News New York. “I’ve been here 45 years. If I tell you how many cars come up Seventh Avenue the wrong way from Morton Street, it’s a lot.”
Surveillance footage from a nearby building showed several drivers and pedestrians stopping abruptly after the impact. One man ran back toward Schoeck to help, but she ultimately succumbed to her injuries.
WINS-FM shared news of the crash on TikTok, where a woman identifying herself as Carol commented that Schoeck had been engaged to her nephew.
“The woman killed is my nephew’s fiancée. We are all shocked and desperately saddened,” she wrote. “Her name is Valerie. She was to be married in June. There are no words to describe the grief. She was an extraordinary, gorgeous young lady. Thank you for your prayers.”
Schoeck’s fiancé declined to speak with the media, New York Post reported.
The van’s driver remained at the scene and cooperated with police investigators. No arrests have been made, according to CBS News New York, ABC 7 NY, and NBC New York.
