Body of 10th NYer who died in freezing temps found by Queens grocer who had offered help

When the manager returned to work the next morning, he was upset to find the man’s lifeless body sitting on the same bench.

“I go up to him and say, ‘Good morning, good morning,’” said 28-year-old Luis Polanco, who manages the Key Foods on Francis Lewis Blvd. near 35th Ave. in Flushing. “He never responds.”

The 47-year-old victim was found dead about 6 a.m. Tuesday, cops said. His name was not immediately released pending family notification.

He is the 10th person to die on the streets citywide since sub-freezing temps arrived Saturday.

Polanco said the victim walked into his store with a bloody nose the night before he died.

“I asked if he needed help,” said Polanco. “I say, ‘You okay? You need to go somewhere? You need police?’ He said, ‘No, I’m okay.’”

When the manager left work that night, the man was sitting on a bench outside, enjoying a tub of peanut butter he had purchased at the store.

A customer pointed out the unconscious man still on the bench when Polanco returned the following morning.

“It’s sad,” said Polanco. “I think maybe he was drinking.”

The city Medical Examiner will determine his cause of death along with the nine other victims whose deaths are suspected to be cold related.

The city is ramping up efforts to clear the streets of people at night amid the coldest weather conditions in eight years.

“When the cold is this deadly, we need to meet the moment and leave no stone unturned,” Mamdani said at a City Hall press conference Tuesday

A number of those who died are suspected of being homeless, and cops are still trying to determine the identitiy of several of them.

Sub-freezing temps are expected to continue well into next week.