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Beloved Deli Owner Killed by Cab While Crossing Deadly Intersection: NYPD

By Shaye Weaver | April 24, 2017 6:23pm
 Srymanean Manickam, known as "Mano," was killed in a car crash on Saturday night, police said.
Srymanean "Mano" Manickam
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YORKVILLE — A popular deli owner known for his generous spirit was fatally struck by a cab driver over the weekend while crossing a deadly intersection near his store where another pedestrian was killed last year. 

Srymanean Manickam, 51, was crossing from east to west in the northern crosswalk at 78th Street and York Avenue at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, when a yellow cab making a left-hand turn onto York Avenue hit him, police and family said. 

Emergency medical workers took him to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 10 p.m., police said.

The taxi driver, who hasn't been identified, stayed on the scene and was not arrested. Police said charges are pending and the investigation is ongoing by the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad.

Manickam, known simply as "Mano," was a Sri Lankan refugee who worked and managed the Super-Del Market at 1474 York Ave. starting when he was 18, earning innumerable friends through the decades, family and friends said.

Bobby Fuleki, 18, grew up eating and hanging out at the deli, with Mano becoming a father figure to the teen.

"'Mano' in Spanish means 'hand,'" he said on Monday outside the deli. "He was always giving a hand to everybody."

Mano was known for his generosity, not only by handing out food and drinks to those in need, but giving work to those down on their luck, friends said. He never said "no" to anyone and always had a smile on his face.

"He'd help me because he knew I needed work, so he'd ask me to make deliveries and do stock," said 21-year-old Diego Elejalde. "It wasn't just work and food he'd give, but he'd pour out his soul and speak wisdom to me, which will last me a lifetime. He was an enlightened soul."

His friend John Broder, 42, remarked that Mano epitomized the best of New York City.

"A Sri Lankan little guy had an impact on thousands of lives," he said. "[For] people who don't know New York City, New Yorkers are good."

On Monday, the deli was full of friends and acquaintances, expressing their condolences and sorrow, laying flowers, leaving notes, and hugging and crying together. 

Mano's brother, Soundramenan Manickam, was trying to grapple with the reality of his death Monday, noting that he walked along the avenue for 32 years without incident.

"He did for us, everything," Manickam said, describing Mano as one of 12 siblings who left Sri Lanka when he was 8 years old, and noting that most of his family now lives in Toronto.

"Since he was 18 years old he walked here," his brother said of Mano, who lived on East 78th Street, around the corner from the deli. "I don't know how he didn't make it."

Since 2009, there have been three pedestrians injured at the intersection, the NYPD said. In 2016, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a driver heading northbound on York Avenue as the victim was about to cross the intersection.

"Most people drive so fast and people are jay[walking] all the time," said Hana Jahmurataj, who has three children and lives on the block. "I scream when they turn. People don't respect [the traffic officers]."

A block north, at East 79th Street and York Avenue, there have been 17 pedestrians injured and at least one person killed since 2009, according to NYPD data.

A block south, at East 77th Street and York Avenue, there have been eight people injured during that same time period.