The elderly Upper East Side man killed in a crash involving a member of the Pakistani Mission to the United States died a hero after pushing his wife out of harm’s way, the grieving widow said yesterday.
“He sacrificed his life for me. He really gave me a good shove. It was in a second. He saved my life,” sobbed Denise Baum, 60, who watched in horror as an out-of-control car grazed her but slammed into her beloved husband, Rubin “Ruby” Baum.
The 80-year-old Baum — a father of five who earned two Purple Hearts as a medic in the Korean War — was struck by a black Mazda at East 59th Street and Park Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. The Mazda had been heading east on 59th when it first collided with a minivan, carrying the Pakistani diplomat, heading north on Park.
The impact caused the Mazda to careen and strike the Baums as they stood on a corner hailing a cab to go home.
Rubin was pinned under the car.
“I was so upset. I thought: Why couldn’t I lift the car? Why couldn’t I save him?” Denise wept.
She noted that her husband died the same way they met 36 years ago — hailing a cab on a Manhattan street.
“I was 24, he was 44, and I said, ‘I was trying to get a cab,’ and he said, ‘Hop in, and I’ll give you a ride,’ ” recalled Baum, limping and bruised from the accident.
Family members added that Rubin’s father, Rabbi Shepard Baum, was the chief enforcer of kosher law for the state for four decades until he, too, was struck and killed by a car on a Manhattan street in 1977 at age 73.
The couple — who have five grown children — had been headed home to their penthouse at East 72nd and Third Avenue after catching “The Fabulous Dorseys” at 59E59 Theaters when Rubin was struck down.
Denise recalled how they didn’t have tickets to the show but her husband — a retired garment-industry exec who dabbled in real estate — managed to smooth-talk their way in.
“He was breathtaking, 80 years old!” Baum cried, holding a photo of her elegant husband. “We got in there, and we loved the show.”
They had to stand on the corner longer than usual on the way home because they had trouble hailing the cab on a busy Saturday night, she said.
“We couldn’t get a cab so easily, because it was trickling, the rain,” Denise said.
She said she’s furious that neither of the drivers involved in the crash tried to help her husband as he lay pinned to the ground. “I was so taken aback that my Ruby was stuck under there,’’ she said.
She added, The thing that upset me is that nobody contacted me about who caused the accident,’’ either.
“Somebody said the detectives are coming, but nobody showed up,” Baum said.
She said she was unaware that one of the vehicles was ferrying a member of the UN mission.
Police said they do not expect to file charges in the accident.
Denise said despite the heartbreak, she has no plans to leave the city.
“I was born and raised in Manhattan. I would never live anywhere else,” she said.
“I’m just sad that I can’t spend the rest of my life living with my husband.”