Kiersten Cerveny, Manhasset dermatologist found in Chelsea apartment building, apparently not homicide victim, police say

The Manhasset dermatologist who died after she was found unconscious in the vestibule of a Chelsea apartment building Sunday morning does not appear to be a homicide victim, an NYPD spokesman said Monday.

Kiersten Cerveny, 38, of Castle Ridge Road, who was found "unconscious and unresponsive" in the lobby of the West 16th Street building in Chelsea, may have succumbed to a drug overdose, a law enforcement source said Monday.

The New York City medical examiner performed an autopsy, but the exact cause of death won't be known until toxicology and other tests are completed, officials said.

In the upscale Manhasset neighborhood that Cerveny called home with her husband, Andrew, also a dermatologist, and their three young children, neighbors Monday expressed sorrow for Cerveny's family.

"It's such a shock," said Angelo Pappas, 46, a neighbor who recalled seeing the family early in the morning walking or jogging with a stroller. He said Cerveny taught a water ballet class at the nearby Strathmore Vanderbilt Country Club. The club declined to comment.

"My wife said, 'We were at the park together with the kids. Oh my God. Oh my God.' " he said.

Cerveny had been drinking at a Lower East Side nightspot before arriving by taxi with a man at the apartment building about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, The Associated Press reported, citing police. Four hours later, police responded to a 911 call and found her in the lobby at 8:32 a.m. EMTs brought her to Lenox Health Greenwich Village, where she was pronounced dead.

Investigators have video from inside the building showing two men carrying Cerveny down the stairs, police said. Neither is expected to face charges, police told the AP.

Kiersten and Andrew Cerveny married in 2009 at the Gramercy Park Hotel -- five years after they met as medical residents in New Orleans, according to a New York Times wedding announcement.

She was the chief of dermatology at Brooklyn Hospital Center and an assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York when the two married. A previous marriage ended in divorce.

No one answered the door Monday at the Cervenys' home.

A teenage girl, who said she had baby-sat for the family, and her mother, said they had stopped by to pay their respects.

Regina Cofrin, who lives across the street, said, "It's devastating. It's really sad. She seemed very sweet."