Elderly New York Man Hit When Car Jump Curb, Hits Newstand

A doorman at a nearby high-rise raced to the carnage to pull the dazed newspaper vendor from the wreckage of his kiosk and tried to help the mortally wounded customer who lay crushed by the structure.

But the doorman's efforts failed to save Ralph Onorato, 76, of nearby 303 E. 57th St., who was taken to NYU Hospital and declared dead from massive internal injuries.

Detectives were treating the crash as an accident last night and had not charged the driver, Sol Smuller, of Floral Park.

Smuller, 76, told cops his gas pedal had gotten stuck and his brakes didn't work.

Witnesses along the busy East Side intersection said the terrifying chain of events began at 11:50 a.m. as two vehicles, a Toyota and a yellow cab behind it, waited in a right lane at a red light on Second Avenue at 58th Street.

Another yellow cab came flying up behind them, first slamming into the rear passenger side of the first taxi, causing it to rear-end the Toyota.

Smuller's cab - which witnesses said was speeding - then continued careening into the Toyota's right side.

"The driver had no control of the car," said cabby Azhar Iqbal, 43. "He hit me, then the car in front of me."

The impact sheared off the speeding cab's left front tire and the metal wheel base screeched along the pavement with sparks shooting out as the taxi zoomed diagonally across Second Avenue.

Next, it jumped the curb at the southeast corner at 57th Street, smashing into the newsstand, which crushed Onorato as it collapsed. Pedestrian George Vasquez was also injured.

The collision sent shards of wood and metal from the newsstand flying into a Duane Reade store, smashing a window.

"I heard the noise and thought the building was coming down," said Chris Falcon, a doorman at 300 E. 57th St.

Falcon, 60, ran to the rubble and pulled out news vendor Amin Nurul, and then attempted to help Onorato, but "he was in really bad shape."

Onorato was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m.

Vasquez, who suffered minor leg injuries, said, "I could have been killed, so I feel very lucky."

Witnesses said the cab appeared to speed up after it hit the two cars and headed for the newsstand. They said they saw no brake lights.

"I think the driver panicked and pushed the accelerator," said Ronny Mintz, a passenger in the Toyota.

When Smuller was reached at home last night, the cabby said he's "doing alright."

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.