NYC hit-and-run victim identified by family, pals as actress Lisa Banes
Stage and screen actress Lisa Banes was fighting for her life Saturday after being struck by what cops say may have been a hit-and-run scooter driver on the Upper West Side — the first time since the pandemic began that she was back in the city she loves, friends and family told The Post.
Banes, 65, — who lives in Los Angeles and who has appeared in dozens of TV shows and movies, including “A Cure for Wellness,” and “Gone Girl” — was on her way to meet her wife for a dinner party at a close pal’s home near Lincoln Center when she was mowed down by a red and black scooter or motor bike Friday at 6:30 p.m. on West 64th and Amsterdam Avenue, according to friends and police.
She remained in critical condition late Saturday in the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai Morningside hospital with a traumatic brain injury, her family and friends said.
“We’ll know more in the next few days,” said wife Kathryn Kranhold, who was by her side at the hospital.
The terrible accident was a cruel twist for Banes, who had been delighted to finally make it back to the Big Apple late last month with her wife, eager to see old friends in the place she missed so much, pals told The Post.
“She loves, loves, loves New York,” according to friend Cynthia Crossen. “She’s an LA girl but she spent so many happy years here.”
Banes’ itinerary included clinking glasses at an annual Memorial Day Weekend party at producer Clive Davis’ Westchester home, friends said.
On Friday, she had a mini reunion with the cast of “The Niceties,” the 2018 play she starred in at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Crossen said.
Afterward, at around 6:20 p.m., she phoned Kranhold — a former Wall Street journal writer whom she married at a small ceremony about four years ago at City Hall — to meet up at Crossen’s pad near Lincoln Center.
When Banes didn’t show up, her worried wife began frantically phoning her. Eventually, someone at the hospital picked up the phone and told her the awful news.
Cops announced no leads Saturday, only saying the male suspect — who they believe blew a light at the intersection — remained at large.
Banes was in the crosswalk and had the right of way, according to police, who said it was unclear what kind of vehicle the suspect was driving.
“No one knows for sure. Some witnesses said it was a scooter. Some said it was a motorcycle with no plate,” an NYPD spokesman said.
With fewer cars on the road during the pandemic, Gotham streets have become treacherous, with many speeding or driving recklessly, according to stats cited in a recent report by the Manhattan Institute.
Last year saw at least 243 traffic-related deaths — a 10.5 percent jump from 2019 and the highest tally in the past seven years, the group found.
As the city emptied out amid the pandemic, pedestrian deaths fell by 21 percent last year, the institute found.
But so far this year, 58 pedestrians have been killed by vehicles through Thursday compared with 27 over the same period in 2020, NYPD stats show.
“It feels like it is a lawless roadway,” Kranhold told The Post.
Pedestrians at the accident site Saturday said the city needs to do so that all vehicles comply with the law.
“There has to be a way to force these riders to respect the law. It’s not fair that pedestrians can do everything right and follow the rules and still get run over,” said Lisa Figueroa-Capo.
Banes, who was born in Ohio and raised in Colorado, attended Julliard and embarked on a long and varied career in New York and Hollywood.
She had roles on “One Life to Live,” “China Beach,” “The Royal Pains,” and “Nashville.” In 1988’s “Cocktail” she played Tom Cruise’s older love interest and she was the mother of the missing woman, played by Rosamund Pike, in “Gone Girl.”
On Broadway, she appeared in “Present Laughter” and “High Society” among other plays.
She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for best featured actress in a play in 1984 for “Isn’t it Romantic.” She won a Theatre World Award in 1981 for the off-Broadway play “Look Back in Anger” and an Obie in 1982 for her role in “My Sister in This House.”
“She’s a great character,” said Crossen. “She’s funny. She’s fun. She’s vibrant. She’s just a person of many talents and interests.”
Added close friend Gary Foster: “She’s just truly full of life. Just a wonderful person.”
Additional reporting by Will Engel
