UPPER EAST SIDE — A Fresh Direct deliveryman was hit by a car that hopped a curb and slammed into a Starbucks, injuring him and the driver Monday morning, he and officials said.
Arthur Knight, 26, was out on a delivery near First Avenue and East 69th Street about 9:14 a.m. when the northbound black car hurtled towards him off the avenue, he said.
"I was making a delivery and some boxes fell. As I was picking up the boxes, a car came out of nowhere and it clipped me," said Knight, a father two girls, 6 and 5.
"I thought someone hit me running past," said Knight, who witnesses said was limping afterwards.
"As soon as it happened, people rushed to my side. My back was hurting and my (left) foot was hurting. A lady told me, 'Have a seat, have a seat!'" said Knight.
"It was a big boom," said Jose Gonzalez, 47, who works nearby.
The driver had been in the car with his wife at the time of the crash, Knight said.
"The driver was pinned in the car. They used the jaws of life to get him out. They put the driver on a stretcher and took him away. He was conscious the whole way through," according to Rich Winterhoff, 59, a doorman for a building across the street.
"The driver was banged up. They put an oxygen mask on him and took him to the hospital," Gonzalez said.
The driver and the deliveryman were treated at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital for injuries that were not considered life threatening, fire officials said.
An NYPD spokeswoman said she did not have further information about the crash.
Knight, who's worked for Fresh Direct since 2013, said the crash hasn't interupted his life.
"I'll be right back at work tomorrow," he said. "We're New Yorkers. We like to work."
The delivery grocery store expressed their concern over the crash and wished the victims well.
"Our first concern is for our employee who was injured while performing his job. We understand that another person was also injured and we are keeping that person in our thoughts as well. We are grateful that it appears that both victims, though hospitalized, are not in life-threatening conditions. We will continue to monitor the circumstances," David Helfenbein, spokesman for FreshDirect, said.
