A dump truck plowed into an e-bike rider in Herald Square on Monday, killing the victim and driving off — and hours later, the driver still faced no charges. Another New Yorker dead doing the grunt work of keeping this city running, another street turned into a crime scene, another round of officials offering thoughts instead of answers.
The collision happened just before 11 a.m. on West 34th Street near Seventh Avenue, in front of the Primark store and blocks from Macy's flagship, according to the New York Post. The truck driver collided with the cyclist heading west, then kept driving.
Here's where the city's information breakdown starts. The Post reported the victim was a 50-year-old delivery woman riding a JOCO rental e-bike. AM New York reported the victim was a teenage girl on a "Jofo" e-bike. Both outlets cited police sources. The NYPD apparently can't get a consistent story out about who died on their streets — or the press can't be bothered to reconcile basic facts before publishing.
What's not in dispute: the scene was gruesome. An anonymous witness told AM New York the victim was thrown from the bike and ended up under the truck's wheels. "The truck came, and the bike was here, and the truck served and hit them," the witness said. "I was across the street. I was down. I was walking, and I saw it, and that's when everybody started running out, crowding and stuff." A nearby store worker described seeing caution tape and a sheet over the body.
The Post reported the driver was found and questioned but faced no charges by late afternoon. AM New York reported the truck was located at Fifth Avenue and 35th Street and the suspected driver was in custody. Whether "in custody" and "no charges" can both be true at once is the kind of question New Yorkers aren't supposed to ask.
Transportation Alternatives said this was the 20th bike rider killed on city streets this year — 17 of them on e-bikes. "In just two days, the City Council will hold a hearing on e-bikes," the group noted, pointing out that the hearing should address safety, not just regulate the workers who ride them.
This is the same city where a driver in a Lamborghini killed 68-year-old pedestrian Ismael Rodriguez last week and remains at large. The same streets where 15-year-old Daria Serkov was fatally struck by a truck driver while riding a Citi Bike earlier this month. The same leadership class that holds hearings and issues statements while the body count climbs.
A working person — delivery rider or teenager, take your pick of the conflicting reports — is dead on 34th Street. The driver who fled is either in custody or walking free, depending on which outlet you trust. And the city that never sleeps still can't keep its people alive on its own roads.
