From 2020 to 2024, there were 465 accidents on Route 9W within the Town of Marlborough . As a result of these accidents, 142 people suffered injuries and 4 people died.*
For Marlborough residents, traveling this road for everyday commuting to school, work, and errands has become a harrowing experience. Some were left with injuries that continue to affect them years after their accidents, and others have lost loved ones.
Here are some of their stories, as well as others that occurred before 2020.
*Source: Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, using statistics gathered by the NYS Department of Transportation
Kaylyn Touhey Date of Accident: May 16, 2023 Location: US 9W and New Road, Milton
Kaylyn Touhey died on May 16, 2023 after being rear-ended and pushed into oncoming traffic on Route 9W. She was waiting to make a left onto New Road to attend her son Benjamin’s baseball game. He was 8 at the time of the accident.
“My kid is growing up without his mother strictly due to not having a turning lane on 9W,” says Benjamin’s father, Zachary Sculky, a Marlboro resident. “I just hope and pray no other kids have to also.”
“Seven years ago I was on 9W when a car pulled out of Willow Tree Road right in front of me and we T-boned them. My car was totaled and I messed up my foot and shoulder. I’m still dealing with both those issues. I’m just thankful my young kids at the time weren’t in the car. We had no time to stop.”-Heather Engels
Alex Consorti Date of Accident: 2001 Location: 1989 US 9W, Milton
Alex was traveling northbound on Route 9W, heading toward what is now the Ulster Firearms store, and slowed down to turn left into the parking lot.
“As we waited to turn, everything changed in a split second,” says Alex. “Out of nowhere, I heard a deafening crash—the kind of sound you don’t forget. Another vehicle, traveling northbound behind us, slammed into our car. The impact was so violent it launched us off the road and into the grass of a nearby business.”
Alex, who was 18 at the time of the accident, broke his back and had to undergo spinal fusion surgery. Two decades later, he developed cauda equina syndrome—a serious condition caused by pressure on the nerves of the lower spine—and underwent emergency spinal decompression surgery.
“That accident changed my life,” says Alex. “It’s not just something that happened in the past. It’s something my body still carries every day.”
“In January [2025] my car was totaled on 9W because someone didn’t yield. If a traffic light would have been there, the accident wouldn’t have happened.”-Carol Leifer
Genevieve Kronner Date of Accident: April 16, 2018 Location: US 9W and Old Indian Road, Milton
Genevieve was in the left-hand southbound lane of Route 9W waiting to make a left onto Old Indian Road. As she waited, a tow truck carrying an SUV was traveling southbound in the left lane of 9W behind her.
The tow truck driver swerved into the northbound lane and struck the rear driver’s side of Genevieve’s vehicle. Five years later, in 2023, Genevieve had back surgery due to ongoing issues from the crash.
“I have witnessed multiple accidents at the intersection of 9W and Chestnut Lane, across from the Marlborough Highway Department, going both north and south .”-Robyn Affuso Marquis
Here’s a video of just one of those accidents, from 2025:
Donna Cristallo and Stephen Celuch Date of Accident: March 1, 2024 Location: Route 9W and Dock Road
Just after 9 p.m. on March 1, 2024, 72-year-old Donna Cristallo was pushing 75-year-old Stephen Celuch in a wheelchair across 9W in the vicinity of the Falcon music venue. While crossing, they were struck by 25-year-old Newburgh resident Angela Fischl, who left the scene . Shortly after the accident, police located and identified Fischl on North Plank Road in the Town of Newburgh, about 7 miles from where the accident occurred.
Cristallo and Celuch both died in the hit-and-run accident. In October 2024, Fischl pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death. She was sentenced to six months in Ulster County Jail and five years’ probation. Her driver’s license was also revoked.
safe9W.org 