Richard Errico, 54, was killed instantly after officials say he tumbled out of the cab and slipped beneath the wheels of a 65,000-pound sanitation truck.
Errico was on-duty and alone at the time of the accident. Officials say it happened shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday as he was attempting a U-turn outside the Sanitation Department's Queens East Garage.
Why Errico fell from the truck was not immediately clear, but sanitation workers routinely operate with the doors to the cab wide open, because they get in and out of the trucks so often.
City Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch consoled the victim's relatives, then briefed Mayor Eric Adams, who arrived on the scene to meet with family members and to get an update on the investigation.
"Our department mourns the loss of Sanitation Worker Richard Errico," she said in a statement, "a 19-year veteran who served the people of Douglaston, Little Neck, and Bayside as one of the Strongest. He did it proudly. I ask all New Yorkers to pray for his family." Adams said.
The investigation is being conducted by the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad, which is routine.
While it is a dangerous job, the last sanitation worker to be killed in a line-of-duty accident was in 2014.
ALSO READ | NYPD releases bodycam video of police shooting at subway station
NYPD releases bodycam video of police shooting at Brooklyn subway station
----------
* More Queens news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.