Beloved cabbie is mourned

A BELOVED cab driver — whose body sat in his cab for 18 hours as foot traffic bustled past him unaware — was laid to rest in front of more than 500 mourners.

Mehari Bokrezion, 59, was found dead in his cab on Thompson St. near Grand St. in SoHo around lunchtime on Aug. 9. Thousands of New Yorkers walked past his taxi for nearly a day before his worried family found him dead of cardiovascular disease.

“He was a beautiful man, amazing man, spiritual man. Very kind, loved humans,” his nephew, Haben Yemane, 36, said. “Kids, old people. He was just a person you could count on. He’s definitely gonna be missed.”

While New Yorkers may not have noticed the cabbie’s passing right away, those close to Bokrezion certainly did.

Yemane said people came from around the country, from Canada, and even from Europe to mourn the Eritrean native on Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on W. 142nd St. Bokrezion immigrated the U.S. in 1973.

The nephew said the family has been deeply moved by the massive outpouring of grief for his beloved uncle, who he described as an exceptional, warm person.

Bokrezion said his uncle immigrated to the United States from his native Eritrea in 1973. He never had children, but was happily married to his wife for 23 years.

He had been working as a cab driver for the same Brooklynbased company since 1991.

“He loved his job. He was a real personable driver. He definitely made the ride fun,” Yemane said.

The nephew said Bokrezion’s relatives were heartbroken to learn of the circumstances of his death. He was sitting in a spot set aside for cab drivers to rest for an hour. Even some of his fellow drivers thought he was napping.

“It was definitely a shocker,” Yemane said. “It came out of the blue. It still hurts, we’re still mourning.”

When the driver failed to return home, his worried wife and brother traced his GPS device with help from his garage, police said. At around the same time, a passer-by noticed the driver hadn’t moved and called 911, cops said.