Please read this and send it to ten NYC friends, I want these people in the story to get the help they deserve.

 

So for a New Years resolution, my girlfriend and I both decided to not drink, we both bartend, so being in the business, this was going to be a bit more of a trek then it might be for most, either way, it wouldn't be easy. We were actually trenching thru the month, being a bit more active, but, at least just not being hung-over every morning, and we hadn't had a drunk fight all month, or at least the first 11 days. Tuesday the 11th came along, I had the day off from the bar and decided to run some errands about town, the girl had a Christmas party for her work to attend. It gets to be around 7 in the evening and we were supposed to meet up. She called me, I answered, she had the tone, the, "I've had a few drinks and I hope it doesn't show in my speech too much", tone.

No worries, I sort of expected that to happen, she told me she was getting in a cab and came to meet me at Union Square, incidentally , the same spot I was waiting to meet my weed guy, you gotta love delivery in NYC, the other week, he delivered to me in the 24 Hour Fitness I work out at!

Well, she gets to Union Square, a bit tipsy, or at least as it seemed, little did I know this was going to turn out to be a full on drunk. 

 

We head to dinner to a nice new spot in west village called Bell, Book and Candle, aka the BBC, we get a few appetizers, she has a glass of wine, we get a few more bites, their is a couple on a first date next to us, the girl keeps talking about her twin, and all of their cosmic connections, every sentence ends in the phrase, "Isn't that weird", yeah, it's weird you keep talking about. My little darling continues onto the second glass of wine, she is really upset about not getting a promotion at work, I keep trying to reassure her, but at this point, the alcohol is doing more work than I can, she asks for the check, twice in a row, sort of forcefully, I think the waitress understood, she comes back to me in a few seconds and lets me know the bill has been comp'd, ok, so definitely time to go....and this is where the story starts. We get outside, the snow had just really started to fall heavy, we hail a cab, as we get in the cabbie asks us where we are headed, "Brooklyn, Williamsburg bridge, s.5th exit please", the cabbie," Oh that's no good for me", note to self, next time you hear this, have the cab driver pull over and get out.

We weren't driving more than 5 blocks, we approach the intersection of university and E.8th, there is a Subaru station wagon waiting in the middle of the lane to run left, the cab notices too late, he swerves to miss the car, he loses control of the car, "Oh no,"yells the cab driver, "Oh god please no", he screams as we mount the sidewalk and the passenger side of the cab hits a young female, knocking her to the ground, the bumper squaring with her straight in the spine, her boyfriend had been a few feet ahead of her, the cab is still moving, he gets clipped in his knee and actually gets lifted onto the cabs hood, rolling off the driver side of the car, the cab comes to a stop, we are back on the street with a rear tire on the curb still, the girl is laying on the ground crying,"we were on the sidewalk right, we were on the sidewalk...", she was crying out for boyfriend, him and I were both on our phones calling 911, a few bystanders showed up. Someone had a blanket to cover the poor girl with, she wasn't moving at all, she was sniffling in the snow, some other passer by was holding her head up and in place so as not to move it. 

My girl is off to the side, she is still a bit drunk and not really getting the scenario, the fire-truck shows up, the girl gets tied in to the gurney, they move her under an awning of a store so she isn't getting snowed on, everyone is being as positive as they can, a woman kneels and prays, her hand rested on the young victims head.

Finally the ambulance leaves, the driver of the Subaru and the cab driver are still talking, the cab driver admits no fault, he was driving way too fast , even if it hadn't been snowing. The police flash their lights a few blocks away, as they roll up, you can see the passenger side headlight is out, of course, this NYPD. Two officers get out, they don't seem to really understand that anyone got hurt, they see everything cleaned up, so uncaring, they start questioning a few people, the drivers of the Cab and the Subaru both point to me, being the third party witness. One officer walks up, "So who are you", "I was the passenger in the cab officer, I see the people get hit", "ok, so you can go, we don't really need anything from you", the driver of the Subaru chimes in, "Officer he was a key witness", the officer, "ok, so give me your name and number", he writes it down, the girl and I leave. 

"So are you getting us a cab or what?, I'm tired of walking", I look at my lovely girlfriend, who is not so lovely right now, "Are you kidding me, I am not getting into a cab after what just happened, we are walking to the train!"

 

We are walking up University towards Union Square, right then my weed guy calls, "hey Im at 14th and 6th", best news I heard all day, we meet up, the girl and I get on the train, back in brooklyn, stoned, relaxing, I start thinking about the couple that got hit. Sort of feeling responsible, if we had just taking the train in the first place, maybe this wouldn't have happened, but that is not how life works. However, i do want to know that the cab company makes sure this woman and her boyfriend are taking care of, I am not sure if they got any cab insurance information, what if they do need me as a witness to help them get NYC Cabs to pay what is due for the emotional and hopefully minimal physical damage happened to this young lady. So, please relay this story around, if you know these people have them email info@thenewyorkgrapevine.com, and to the rest of you, be careful in cabs during the snow, these guys are a menace without bad weather.