A 49-year-old man was fatally struck by an e-bike cyclist at Franklin and India streets this past Friday evening.
Williamsburg resident Luis Cruz was crossing Franklin when a 26-year-old cyclist traveling southbound struck him, knocking him over and causing severe head trauma, according to the NYPD. Emergency services were called to the scene at about 7:41 pm. They transported Cruz to NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue, where he was later pronounced deceased.
The cyclist remained on scene. Witnesses and the NYPD told Gothamist that the cyclist was a delivery driver who sped through a stop sign. Cruz had double-parked and was exiting his vehicle when he was struck.
No arrests have been made yet, and the investigation remains ongoing.
New York City is home to nearly 65,000 app-based delivery workers, 80% of whom use e-bikes or motorbikes. Statistics show that drivers face a high rate of serious injury or death, making it one of the more deadly professions out there.
Critics say apps like UberEats and Grubhub facilitate a system in which workers are incentivized to move as fast as possible to make deliveries, often penalizing drivers who don’t complete enough on time.
E-bikes in particular have become a flash point for city politics over the past few years. Street safety advocates point to a lack of infrastructure, such as the city falling short on its promise to build protected bike lanes, as a reason delivery workers face unsafe traffic conditions. Some lawmakers have called for more regulations, such as requiring all e-bikes and e-scooters to be registered with the city’s Department of Transportation.
While e-bike accidents are not uncommon, they rank below other causes of traffic injuries and fatalities. “DOT officials said e-bikes account for less than 2% of the traffic deaths in the city and less than 4% of the traffic injuries,” according to Gothamist. “Between 2021 and 2024, six pedestrians were killed by e-bike riders — compared to 471 from other vehicles, according to city data.”
They were both in the wrong. Double parked and running a stop sign. I hate entitled motorists just as much as e-bike riders.
I don’t think double parking should be a death sentence, lol. Hate is a strong word my friend, you should be careful with that.
Meh. this is what happens when you take shortcuts in life, my friend. I also hate irresponsible / self entitled dog owners.
I see that you hate a lot of people.
cool.
I’m not surprised to see this intersection in the news. In my experience, it can be very dicey using the crosswalk here. Many e-bikes blow through the stop signs and cars don’t always come to a complete stop. Even though I live on India and use the ferry every day, I cross at the lights one block over on Java – especially at night. It’s just too unnerving at this intersection.
Also the pole light on the corner of Java has been out of service for over a year even after being report many times
This is the exact intersection where a female reporter for a major news outlet was killed riding on the back of a vehicle similar to this. They put up a stop sign after that. People especially seniors are terrified of these vehicles because they rarely obey the law. I have had several close calls with many of them.
I didn’t see any lights on this E bike involved in crash,this should be requirement for all E bikes.Front and rear lighting along with reflective stripping could’ve prevented this accident.
Now that McGuinness is safe, can the same brave coalition rally to make Franklin and India Streets safe from e-bikes?
Shockingly, no mention of this tragic death on the zealots’ social media platform.
The changes on McGuinness is the best thing to happen in this area since making Kent a one way.
As a (non electric and non delivery) bike rider, these idiots on e-bikes and mopeds ride in the bike lane and almost hit me on a daily basis. I also watch them repeatedly almost hit pedestrians. Drivers in north brooklyn are equally as dense. Double parking your car on a busy street? You don’t need a car in greenpoint and williamsburg. Idiocy all around.
RIP