Kimberly Greer

A law clerk to U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker of the Southern District of New York was struck and killed by a private charter bus Thursday evening as she attempted to cross a street near the courthouse.

Kimberly Greer, 28, was walking inside a crosswalk when the charter bus made a left turn onto Leonard Street from Centre Street, and the back part of the bus hit her, according to Detective Carrie Reilly, a New York City Police Department spokeswoman.

Greer was found unresponsive on the street, with trauma to her body, and was pronounced dead Thursday after being taken to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, Reilly said.

The bus driver, Xi Chen, 50, of Manhattan, was criminally charged with motor vehicle failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care, Reilly said. The bus had an out-of-state license plate, Reilly added.

Greer, a resident of Melville, began her clerkship with Judge Parker in March of this year, after spending time as an an associate at Vedder Price, Parker said in a statement. Greer had graduated cum laude from Fordham Law School in May 2016.

Parker, who said she was “devastated,” called Greer “a vibrant young woman with an excellent legal mind,” who had “distinguished herself in chambers through her keen analytical skills and fluent writing.”

“Most importantly, she was one of the most kind and generous persons I know, quick to lend a hand to colleagues, bake cookies for interns, and mentor students,” Parker also said. The judge added that Greer “was a deeply valued and loved member of my Chambers Family and we are devastated by this tragedy.”

“While at Fordham [Law] she distinguished herself as a leader,” Parker also said. “She was on Fordham Law School's National Moot Court Team, winning first place in oral advocacy and best brief writer. She was President of the Fordham Law School Student Association and an Associate Editor of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal.”

In addition, Greer “was a Ruth Whitehead Whaley Scholar and recipient of the Eugene J. Keefe Award,” and “because of her strong advocacy skills, she was invited to and taught moot court at Fordham Law School in the Fall of 2018.”

Parker also said that she and her chambers “extend[ed] our deepest condolences” to Greer's husband, Michael Singer, her father George, her brothers Matt and Jon and the rest of her family.

Matthew Diller, Dean and Paul Fuller Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, said in a statement that Greer “had tremendous positive energy, ideas, and talent,” adding that she was “committed to making the Law School and her surroundings a better place.”

“She was an incredible, young lawyer who accomplished so much in so little time,” Diller also said. “Our community is so much the better for her leadership as a student, as president of the Student Bar Association, and then as a member of our adjunct faculty. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her husband, Michael Eric Singer, who graduated alongside Kimi in 2016, her father, her two brothers, and the rest of her family and friends.”