Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Delivery Cyclist Fatally Struck By Hit-And-Run Driver On Upper East Side
By
David Cruz
Published Nov 2, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Apple Maps
By
David Cruz
Published Nov 2, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A 42-year-old man riding an e-bike was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on the Upper West Side on Sunday afternoon.
Ernesto Guzman, who was reportedly on his bike for work delivering pizzas, was killed just outside NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan hospital at the corner of East 97th Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan at around 4:30 p.m., according to police. According to the preliminary investigation, Guzman was riding his bike south on 2nd Avenue when he was hit by the driver of a black Chevy Tahoe heading west on East 97th Street. Paramedics found Guzman on the road, with injuries to his body, and transported him into Metropolitan, where he died from his injuries.
Photos published by the NY Post show the SUV had TLC plates, with its passenger-side mirrors smashed, bumper damaged, and the airbags deployed. Police say the driver ditched the vehicle at East 96th Street and 3rd Avenue, and has not been seen since.
Guzman's death marks the 20th time a cyclist has been killed by a driver in NYC this year. A total of 206 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed in traffic collisions in New York City so far this year, the most in six years, according to an analysis by Transportation Alternatives. The transportation advocacy group projects that at the current rate, that number will surpass 243 deaths by the end of this year.
The city Department of Transportation disputes the group's tally, discounting eight deaths in the group's breakdown because some of those crashes involved drivers experiencing a heart attack or who were in a driveway, not in traffic.
Danny Harris, executive director for Transportation Alternatives, blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio's diminished investment in Vision Zero -- one of his signature policies -- for the increase in pedestrian deaths.
"Guzman’s death is not an accident, but the predictable and preventable result of the mayor slashing the Vision Zero and Green Wave Plan budgets, and delaying the rollout of the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program and the Streets Master Plan," Harris said in a statement. "The New York City Department of Transportation has the tools to deliver safer streets, but as long as the mayor holds them back, all New Yorkers are stuck with a system that prioritizes the convenience of drivers over human life.”
Harris added that delivery cyclists "have been on the front lines of the pandemic," adding that "food delivery remains one of the most dangerous in New York precisely because of constant exposure to impatient drivers piloting multi-ton assault vehicles."
The mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tagged
hit and run
vision zero
cyclist killed
e-bike
upper east side
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani must redo his pied-à-terre tax rollout, NY judge orders
A Staten Island judge ruled against the city in a lawsuit challenging the rollout of the new tax, a day after a billionaire casino mogul sued to invalidate it.
By
David Brand
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 4:11 p.m. ET
Modified Sep 29, 2026 at 5:07 p.m. ET
NYC eyes higher fines for owners of dirty vacant lots, abandoned construction sites
The sanitation department seeks to increase the fines for landlords who neglect their abandoned lots from $100 to $250.
By
Liam Quigley
News
NYC eyes higher fines for owners of dirty vacant lots, abandoned construction sites
The sanitation department seeks to increase the fines for landlords who neglect their abandoned lots from $100 to $250.
By
Liam Quigley
NJ Gov. Sherrill vetoes 2 bills meant to give strapped Jersey City more revenue tools
By
Michael Sol Warren
Brooklyn residents displaced after facade falls off neighboring building amid nor'easter
By
Catalina Gonella
Mamdani opts not to define antisemitism in report to combat Jewish hate crimes
By
Elizabeth Kim
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .