Man, 82, dies less than a month after 79-year-old man shoves him in Greenwich Village

An 82-year-old man died from his injuries less than a month after an elderly neighbor pushed him to the ground outside their Manhattan apartment building, police said.

Dean Conover Whetzel was on Hudson St., just around the corner from his apartment on W. 10th St. in Greenwich Village, when Dana Escoffier, 79, threw him to the sidewalk around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 11, cops said.

Medics transported the elderly victim in critical condition to Bellevue Hospital, where he remained for 25 days before dying Nov. 5, police said.

Escoffier, who pleaded not guilty to assault following his arrest in October, reacted with astonishment when he was informed Monday of the victim’s death.

“Is he dead?” » said Escoffier. “I don’t believe it. I had no idea. I’m just hearing it now. I don’t even think my lawyer knows.”

Escoffier refused to comment on the attack, saying only: “He didn’t die because of me.” »

Although Escoffier lived in the same building as the victim, he said the two men had never met before the fatal encounter.

The city medical examiner reclassified Whetzel’s case as a homicide.

A waiter at a nearby restaurant said he witnessed the attack.

“The man who was pushed fell to the ground and the other guy started walking away,” Ethan Dank, 25, a server at Cowgirl NYC, told The News. “People surrounded the guy on the ground, trying to help him.”

“It was very shocking,” Dank said. “He was lying on the ground. He was cross-eyed, but he was still conscious.”

A friend of Whetzel’s said he was walking his dog, a black terrier named Buddy, who was with him when he died.

“Dean was a wonderful person. It’s terribly sad. He was friends with everyone,” Bifa Secchini said. “Poor friend, his dog was with him when it happened.”

Secchini said Whetzel’s remains will be returned to his home state of Indiana. His dog is looked after by a friend.