NYC sanitation supervisor suspended after fatal crash likely caused by poor snow removal

A New York City sanitation supervisor has been suspended after the improper removal of snow and ice may have led to a fatal car crash in Queens. This comes after New York City Zohran Mamdani has been slammed over the city being slow to remove snow and ice from roads and sidewalks following a large winter storm that hit the East Coast in late January.

A 4:30 am crash on February 6 led to the death of 50-year-old livery driver Carlos Asitimbay. He was hit by a tractor-trailer after losing control of his car on the Long Island Expressway near the exit to the Wyck Expressway. Asitimbay was rushed to the hospital with severe head and body injuries, but did not survive.

The tractor-trailer driver sufferent minors injuries and has not charged in the case, and the crash has become a subject of NYPD investigation. "This is currently the subject of an active NYPD investigation, and can't provide comment while that is underway, but I will be sure to update," Mamdani said of the crash, per the New York Daily News.

Two hours prior to the crash, the operator in a Sanitation vehicle had pushed snow and ice into the right lane of the road's shoulder, creating a hazard. Before the fatal crash, there had been another fender bender just beforehand. 

“My uncle was a good man. We’re very affected by this. He was a caring father, brother and uncle,” the victim’s 35-year-old niece, Carla Yauri Asitimbay, said. “This is Sanitation’s fault. … This could have been prevented.”

Sanitation workers in New York typically only push snow and ice into traffic lanes on side streets and neighborhood roads in order to get the snow to melt. That, however, is prohibited on highways and larger roads. The road where Asitimbay was killed was a 50 miles per hour zone.