Two Birds, One Stone

The mayor’s drive to rid the city streets of cars gets a boost from the beneficiary of one of his other major initiatives:

A couple inches more, and this story would have been Francisco Vizuete’s obituary.

Instead, the 60-year-old limo driver has an amazing tale to tell: He barely escaped being crushed to death Monday by a tree that toppled onto his car.

The father of two grown daughters felt so lucky he bought a Lotto ticket last night.

“Maybe my guardian angel is still with me,” he smiled.

Vizuete, who drives for Long Island-based Vital Transportation, was about to pull away from 411 W. 54th St. to pick up a “VIP going to Newark Airport” when death knocked.

“I put the key in the ignition, heard this loud noise, and looked to my left,” he said, recalling he was too stunned to move. “The tree was falling straight at me. It was like slow motion. I couldn’t believe it.

“It was coming 5 or 6 inches from my head,” he said. “Glass went all over me and everything went dark for a while.”

The honey locust pancaked the front end of the limo, which Vizuete owns, but didn’t touch him. Saturday’s storm apparently split the tree down the middle and made it unstable.

When Vizuete opened his eyes, people were taking pictures and a passing bicyclist, Darryl Pitt, was dragging him out through the back passenger side door.