An esteemed Brooklyn rabbi has been identified as one of the two men killed in a wrong-way crash on the New York State Thruway this week, according to authorities and a published report.
Rabbi Yehuda Weinstock, 67 — a longtime aide to Grand Rebbe Zalman Teitelbaum of the Satmar congregation in Williamsburg — was killed in an early Tuesday smash-up in the town of Tuxedo, Orange County, according to police and a Yeshiva World report.
Weinstock was driving a 2022 Nissan Altima in the southbound lanes between Exit 16, for Harriman, and Exit 15A, for Sloatsburg, around 1 a.m. Tuesday when the deadly accident happened, New York State Police said.
Rabbi Yehuda Weinstock, 67, was struck by a wrong-way motorist as he drove on the Thruway Tuesday morning. Mark Lieb/Rockalnd Video Productions
The crash left both cars mangled, and both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene. Mark Lieb/Rockalnd Video ProductionsAnother driver, George Gonzalez, 68, of Dumont, NJ, somehow entered the southbound lanes as he headed north in a 2017 Toyota Rav-4, authorities said.
Gonzalez drove into Weinstock’s path — causing his Toyota to become engulfed in flames, cops said.
Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene by the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office.
First responders at the scene of the double-fatal crash. Mark Lieb/Rockalnd Video ProductionsWeinstock’s funeral was held hours later at the Satmar Synagogue in Williamsburg, according to tradition, according to WCBS.
The rabbi was highly regarded in the community, locals told the station.
Gonzalez’s relatives were too distraught to speak with the network.
