Rabbinical Student Killed in Garbage Truck Accident
A rabbinical student struck by a garbage truck on Sunday morning died at the scene of the accident, officials said.
Ukrainian-born Gedalia Gruntzweig was struck while crossing an intersection in Crown Heights. The 25-year-old was reportedly on his way to a friend’s engagement party, according to the New York Post.
“I heard these terrible screams,” witness Abraham Greisman told the Post. “All I saw was the truck, the driver getting out, pacing back and forth. He must have been in shock.”
Witness reports conflicted with police statements, which said that Gruntzweig had the walk signal at the time he crossed the intersection.
The truck driver remained on the scene. A Brooklyn councilwoman told the New York Times that police are reviewing surveillance videos and witnesses testimony.
Gruntzweig has been identified as a student at Tiferes Bachurim, a Chabad-Labavitch yeshiva located in Morristown, NJ, and was reportedly studying to become a rabbi, JTA reported.
The Department of Sanitation released a statement expressing its “deepest condolences to the family” and the entire community.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30