Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Cyclist Seriously Hurt in Collision With Car Near Queens Plaza, FDNY Says

By  Ben Fractenberg and Gwynne Hogan | July 28, 2015 5:27pm 

 A bike rider was seriously injured after a black Mercedes slammed into him near Queens Plaza Tuesday afternoon, July 28, 2015. 
Queens Plaza Bike Accident
View Full Caption

LONG ISLAND CITY — A cyclist was seriously injured after a car slammed into him near Queens Plaza Tuesday afternoon, according to fire officials and witnesses.

A black Mercedes was traveling west on the Queensboro Bridge approach when it struck the back of the bike near 29th Street at about 2:15 p.m., according to the FDNY and witnesses.

“Look, they hit somebody,” people started screaming, according to local construction worker Mauricio Pelaez, 30, who witnessed the accident.

The 20-year-old bike rider appeared to be having a seizure and then stopped moving, he said.

The man — who was not wearing a helmet, according to witnesses and photos — was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital in serious but stable condition.

The windshield of the car appeared completely smashed and the back wheel of the bike was bent.

The driver was seen taken away from the scene in handcuffs, though an NYPD spokesman could not yet say if he was officially arrested.

The Mercedes' only passenger, Shann Mon, 39, told DNAinfo that the cyclist darted into traffic heading north.

“I’m sitting there, I see this kid coming and he hits the car," he said. "I was shocked."

Mon said he and his friend were heading back to Harlem after picking up medicine at a pharmacy. 

An NYPD officer and mother of two were killed in 2013 after their car struck a metal railing at the base of the Queensboro Bridge a few blocks away from where the cyclist was hit. 

Other riders in the area said the intersection was dangerous for cyclists. 

Fernando Flores Solis, 25, who bikes from Astoria to his restaurant job in the Upper East Side, said three bicyclists were hit near 29th Street about three weeks ago.

Solis would like to see more markers for bike riders and a longer signal for cyclists to cross the street. 

"I feel like there are drivers who don't respect cyclists here in New York," he said. "It's the intersection — it's just weird and crazy."