“A death every day for seven days is shameful”: Statement from Transportation Alternatives after Drivers Hit and Kill Seven New Yorkers in One Week
BROOKLYN, NY — On Wednesday, a cement truck driver struck and killed Edwin Delgado on his bike. Delgado’s death was part of an especially deadly week where seven New Yorkers were killed on unsafe streets, including:
Zachariah Padilla, a four-year-old pedestrian
Three other pedestrians, including 31-year-old Nilufar Komilova
Placido D'Andrea, a 78-year-old disabled passenger
A 46-year-old e-scooter rider
Edwin Delgado, a 53-year-old bike rider
The cement truck driver was traveling southbound on 16th Avenue in Borough Park when he hit and killed Edwin Delgado, who was biking on the same street. In a video of the crash, Delgado can be seen attempting to maneuver around an illegally-double-parked car when he was hit and killed. Double parking can be prevented by accurately pricing curb space to ensure availability, and by building protected bicycle infrastructure.
In Borough Park, where Delgado was killed, there is not a single protected bike lane. There is no safe route for cyclists traveling to or through the neighborhood. Brooklyn Community Board 12, which includes Borough Park, has only 0.03% miles of protected bike lanes, despite being designated as a Bicycle Priority District back in 2017. Neighborhoods are designated as Bicycle Priority Districts when many cyclists are killed or seriously injured in an area with very little or no bike infrastructure.
Statement from Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas:
“We are seeing the fallout of Eric Adams’ legacy: too many New Yorkers killed in preventable traffic crashes. This is the predictable outcome when safety projects are stalled, rolled back, or canceled in service of pay-for-play politics, and when the Department of Transportation is undermined and poorly resourced.
“This cyclist’s death is the latest in a deadly week. Edwin Delgado was killed because the bike network is woefully incomplete. Drivers have killed so many people on bikes in Borough Park that it was designated a high-risk priority district by the City as far back as 2017. And today, there is still not a single protected bike lane there.
“Edwin Delgado was killed while trying to pass an illegally double-parked car. His death would have been prevented by a protected bike lane and by policies that ensured the curb is accessible to New Yorkers who need it, making double parking a rarity rather than the rule.”
“New York City’s streets should be the envy of the world. At the very least, they should not kill a New Yorker every day. A death every day for seven days is shameful and preventable. Mayor Mamdani can change this terrifying trend, protect New Yorkers from preventable death and injury, and make streets that work for all people — and that starts with a fully funded and staffed DOT working to patch the gaps in the bike network, implement parking policies that free up spaces and reduce dangerous double parking, and use the powers imparted by Sammy’s Law to reboot Vision Zero.”
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