A Boston College senior who was celebrating after acing an interview for her dream job at Goldman Sachs was struck and killed by two cabs on the Upper East Side Thursday night.
Kelly Gordon, 22, of Brielle, NJ, had a job interview with the prestigious Wall Street firm earlier in the day. Her family said it went extremely well, and friends said they all wanted to celebrate.
“She was so pumped to get that dream job,” recalled her aunt Lori Centrella, 51, who said Gordon had texted her about the interview that night. “She was a go-getter — with grace.”
Gordon and her stepsister Ali Axt went to the Clinton Hall beer garden in the Financial District with two friends they had worked with at the Manhattan Yacht Club in Battery Park City. They later went to a pal’s apartment.
Gordon was struck by a yellow cab while crossing 84th Street east to west against the light just before 11:30 p.m. The cab had swerved to avoid her.
She bounced off the hood and was run over by a second cab in the opposite lane.
She suffered severe head trauma, authorities said. Both drivers were licensed and stayed at the scene. Both passed Breathalyzer tests.
Medics took Gordon to New York Presbyterian Hospital, but she could not be saved.
“She was a beautiful person inside and out. She will be so missed,” said her mom, Lorraine Zimmerman, 50. “She was a kid who always did the right thing.”
Neighbors were comforting the grieving family at their home in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, on Friday.
“She has more promise than any young person I know,” said nearby resident John Teza, 40. “She was an unbelievable girl.”
Gordon’s father was flying home from Amsterdam, where he had gone for a business trip.
The family said Goldman Sachs officials forwarded a letter she had sent them Tuesday, hoping it would bring them comfort.
A company spokeswoman said, “Our thoughts go out to Kelly’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
Gordon, one of six children, studied finance and marketing at Boston College’s School of Management, authorities said.
She and three sisters had worked at the Manhattan Yacht Club. She worked as a bartender on a barge there last summer.
“Kelly was smart, energetic. She could do anything,” said Michael Fortenbaugh, 51, the commodore at the club.
She also worked as a campus ambassador for The Next Step Realty, a Manhattan company that finds apartments for recent college grads moving to the city.
She volunteered with 4Boston, a campus service group, and was a member of the Boston College Women in Business organization, a college spokesman said.
All campus Masses this weekend will be offered for Gordon and her family.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger