2 men dead after colliding on bike path of Queensboro Bridge
QUEENS (WABC) -- Two people died in a collision on the bike path of the Queensboro Bridge on Thursday.
It happened around 8:30 a.m. during the morning commute.
One of the victims, a 39-year-old Francis Del Valle of New Jersey, was riding a stand-up motorized scooter and the other victim, 35-year-old Dmytro Stechenko of Queens, was on a bike.
They were heading in opposite directions when they collided.
EMS responded to the scene and transported both victims to Weill Cornell Surgery at New York Presbyterian-Queens where they were both pronounced dead.
A world is now crashing down around two families.
"We talked to him about it to make sure he's always wearing his helmet, and I heard he did wear his helmet, but it was just a really bad collision," said one of the victim's friends, Rachel Huynh.
She says her close friend Del Valle, who now leaves behind a wife and two kids, was one of two people killed in a collision.
"His wife is in bad shape, especially with the kids. I can't imagine. He was a really great husband to her, and they've been going out to vacations, exploring the whole world," Huynh said.
The bridge is one of the city's busiest when it comes to pedestrians and cyclists. In May of 2025, former Mayor Eric Adams, along with the DOT, separated the groups.
Since then, only bikes are allowed in the north outer roadway and pedestrians use the south outer roadway. Still, the lanes are only about 11 feet wide.
While there is a 15 mph speed limit for stand-up e-scooters and e-bikes in New York City, it is also illegal to operate a stand-up e-scooter that can go faster than 20 mph anywhere in the state.
Authorities say the stand-up e-scooter involved in the collision was capable of going over 50 miles per hour in a matter of seconds, and should have never been on the road to begin with.
"Crashes like these are entirely preventable. Scooters that travel this quickly have no place in our bike lanes," said Ben Furnas, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "The City Council must move forward with the 'Ride Safe, Ride Right' bill to prevent the sale of the most dangerous micromobility devices. 20 mph is plenty for anything on New York City neighborhood streets, and certainly in our bike lanes. The data is clear: anything faster than 20 mph is especially deadly. 20 is plenty - no matter who you are or how you're traveling. Speed kills."
A spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the deadly crash is a "grim reminder that illegal, high-speed micro-mobility devices, like the stand-up e-scooter involved in this incident, are dangerous and have no place on our roadways or bike paths."
The spokesperson said the Mamdani Administration will continue to work remove "these illegal devices from our streets and bring accountability to micromobility use."
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