The Latest: Consulate says NYC attack survivor conscious

NEWTON, Mass. (AP) - The Latest on the Massachusetts man wounded in the bike path attack in New York City (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

The Argentinian consul in New York says he’s optimistic about the condition of Martin Marro, the native of Argentina injured in Tuesday’s attack on a New York City bike path.

The 48-year-old from the Boston suburb of Newton is currently at New York’s Presbyterian Hospital.

Mateo Estreme said late Wednesday at the Argentinian consulate that Marro is well and recovering. He says Marro is “conscious but he is very sedated.”

Marro was celebrating his 30th high school reunion in New York with classmates visiting from Argentina when a truck driver plowed into people on Tuesday, killing eight people.

Five of the victims were part of the reunion party. Estreme says Marro hasn’t yet been told about the deaths of his friends.

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4:30 p.m.

School officials say teachers and administrators are trying to make the school day as normal as possible for the two children of a Massachusetts man who was wounded in the bike path attack in New York City.

Mount Alvernia Academy principal Barbara Plunkett says Martin Marro’s two sons attended classes as usual on Wednesday in Newton, a Boston suburb.

Marro was celebrating his 30th high school reunion in New York with classmates visiting from Argentina when a truck driver plowed into people on Tuesday, killing eight.

Plunkett says a lot of people at the private Roman Catholic elementary school are shocked and still processing what happened.

She says it’s a “small, tight knit community and Martin is a big part of it.”

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2:30 p.m.

A family friend of a Massachusetts man injured in the bike path attack in New York City has described the victim as a “regular, everyday suburban guy.”

James Cote says he’s known Martin Marro, who lives in Newton, for nearly a decade. Cote is a city councilor in the affluent Boston suburb.

Marro was celebrating his 30th high school reunion in New York with classmates visiting from Argentina when a truck driver plowed into people on Tuesday, killing eight.

Cote says finding out about the attack was “distressing,” but hearing that it happened to a close friend only made it worse.

Marro, who works as a scientist in the Cambridge lab of the global pharmaceutical company Novartis, hosted a fundraiser last week for Cote’s re-election in his home.

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2 p.m.

A neighbor of the Massachusetts man wounded in the bike path attack in New York City says she’s worried about the long-term impact of losing five friends.

Kristin Heyer is a friend and neighbor of Martin Marro, who was born in Argentina and now lives in the Chestnut Hill section of Newton.

Heyer says her 12-year-old son plays on the same soccer team as Marro’s son. Marro was celebrating his 30th high school reunion in New York with classmates visiting from Argentina when a truck driver plowed into people on Tuesday, killing eight.

Five of the dead were friends of Marro, who was injured.

Heyer says she can’t stop thinking about the family. She tells The Associated Press: “I can’t imagine what it must be like to go through seeing all of your best friends die in front of you and what he’ll carry forward with him.”

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This story has been corrected to show the neighbor’s last name is Heyer, not Hyer.

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9:40 a.m.

One of the people wounded in an attack on a New York City bike path is a native of Argentina who lives just outside Boston.

The Argentine foreign ministry says Martin Marro is recovering from his injuries at a Manhattan hospital. Several of Marro’s high school classmates from Argentina came to the U.S. to visit him and celebrate the 30th anniversary of their graduation. Five of them died in the attack.

Marro works as a biomedical researcher and lives in the Chestnut Hill area of Newton. Last week, he hosted a fundraiser for a local Republican candidate that was attended by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker. Photos of Marro and his wife posing with Baker were posted to Facebook.

Tom Mountain, a local GOP official and Marro’s friend, attended the fundraiser at his home. He describes Marro as “one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet” and said he is “very intertwined with the local Argentinian community.” Marro described his trip to New York as a routine social event with friends, he said.