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Alphabet City Man Dies in Brooklyn Motorcycle Accident

By DNAinfo Staff on September 10, 2011 4:36pm  | Updated on September 10, 2011 6:07pm

Nelson Perez, 48, was killed when his motorcycle flipped off the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on Sept. 10, 2011.
Nelson Perez, 48, was killed when his motorcycle flipped off the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on Sept. 10, 2011.
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Flickr/rutlo

By Meghan Keneally and Tom Liddy

DNAinfo Reporters

MANHATTAN — An Alphabet City carpenter was killed when his motorcycle hurtled off the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn Heights early Saturday morning, police said.

Nelson Perez, 48, a long-time biking enthusiast, fell approximately 20 feet from the impact onto the lower roadway just before 1 a.m. He later died at Lutheran Hospital.

“He was a major motorcycle freak since we were kids," said life-long pal Anthony Ruiz, 36, who welled up discussing his friend.

"He was a prankster and a half. He was an extremist in everything he did."

Sources said that Perez, who was driving a 2001 Yamaha motorcycle was coming off a curve in the roadway near Montague Street when he crossed over the right and center lanes.

He then struck the curb and flipped over the guardrail, landing on the roadway below, police said.

It was not clear what caused the crash.

Ruiz said that Perez, who lived with his mother and lost his brother to a heart attack about five years ago, had survived a number of accidents on his bike.

In one case, he tried to pop a wheelie and slid the entire length of the block, Ruiz said. But he walked away unscathed.

Another friend, Ralph Torres, said that Perez, who rebuilt apartments, could often be seen "fixing up bikes in the neighborhood," he said. "He was a really handy guy."

In an eerie twist, Ruiz said that he received a Facebook friend request from Perez on Saturday afternoon, hours after he died.

"My friends think it’s his way of looking out for me," he said.