MANHATTAN — Former White House watchdog Gerald Walpin, who was fired by President Obama in 2009, was fatally struck by an SUV driver on the Upper East Side Friday morning, officials and witnesses said.
Walpin, 84, was crossing East 79th Street at Lexington Avenue about 11 a.m. when a southbound black GMC SUV turned left from Lexington onto 79th and hit him, an NYPD spokeswoman said.
Some passersby rushed to his side, witnesses said.
"There were people around him trying to help. Others just stood around," said Larry Schena, 26.
Walpin suffered severe head injuries and was taken to New York-Presbyterian hospital in critical condition, but later succumbed to his wounds, police said.
Jesus Ravelo, 36, a super at 155 E. 79th St., jumped into the street to help divert vehicles after collision.
"I started directing traffic so the EMS could get there faster — every second counts," Ravelo said. "They put him in a neck brace, put him in the stretcher."
The super said he just "wanted to get the job done" when asked why he decided to intervene.
"Whatever can be done to help, that's what you do," Ravelo said.
The driver, 52-year-old Milton Kazi from Queens, remained on the scene and was arrested on Saturday morning and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian, police said.
He was given a desk appearance ticket and released the same day, according to authorities.
Walpin, who lived a few blocks away at Park Avenue and 78th Street, was the former inspector general for a federal agency, which runs AmeriCorps, an organization that provides grants to community group volunteers.
A prominent attorney, he was sworn in in January 2007 under President George W. Bush, but was fired two years later after President Obama said he had lost confidence in him, according to the New York Times.
The White House said Walpin appeared "confused" and "disoriented" at a meeting that year, among other charges.
Walpin fired back that he was ill during the meeting and was fired because he had issued two reports, in which he was critical of programs that received money from AmeriCorps.
Walpin was a New York City native and graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1952. He got his law degree from Yale Law School and served in the U.S. Air Force, according to the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies.
He leaves behind his wife Sheila, three children and six grandchildren.
Last month, just a few blocks away, an 85-year-old man was fatally struck by a sedan that backed into him and pinned him against a box truck.
