Transportation Alternatives Statement After Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Bike Rider in Queens

2023 is the second deadliest year for bike riders in recorded history, and the deadliest in the Vision Zero-era. 

Traffic violence has killed 255 New Yorkers this year. 

QUEENS, NY — This morning, a hit-and-run driver in a tractor-trailer struck and killed a New Yorker riding an e-bike at the corner of Northern Boulevard and Parsons Boulevard in Flushing. This is the 29th cyclist killed in 2023. 

Northern Boulevard is a deadly corridor. Since the onset of Vision Zero in 2014, 23 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed on the street – three within a few blocks of this intersection since 2020. Northern Boulevard has the fifth-highest truck volumes of any major truck route in the city. Transportation Alternatives called on New York City to put in a bus lane and a bike lane on the notoriously dangerous street in 2021, but this section of Northern Boulevard remains dangerously unchanged. 

The NYC Streets Plan requires the City to build 50 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of the year. With only three days remaining in 2023, Mayor Adams has only built 34, according to Transportation Alternatives’ protected bike lane tracker.

Statement from Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris:

“We are devastated to learn that a driver has killed another New Yorker riding a bike in a hit-and-run. We send our deepest condolences to their loved ones. This hit-and-run driver must be found and held accountable.”

“Northern Boulevard is a highway masquerading as a road. With several lanes of through traffic and a design that puts cars above all else, it’s designed to be dangerous. Our leaders have failed this bike rider and every New Yorker who lives along this road. We know how to prevent crashes like these from occurring, yet we leave our streets dangerous.”

“2023 has been the safest year for pedestrians under Vision Zero, and it’s time for Mayor Adams to bring that same urgency and dedication to protecting bike riders on our roads – especially in Eastern Queens. Traffic violence is a choice not an inevitability, and we will not accept any death or serious injury on our streets.”

“As 2023 comes to a close, it’s clear City Hall will not meet the mandates of the Streets Plan. Bike riders continue to die on our streets and Mayor Adams won’t even meet his legal requirements to keep New Yorkers safe. It’s unacceptable – and it’s illegal. Ignoring this preventable crisis will not make it go away.”