The 69-year-old pedestrian who had been struck by the rider of an electric Citi Bike last week has died of her injuries, police said late on Friday.
The woman's name has not been released, but according to cops, she had been walking at the chaotic intersection of Grand and Chrystie streets at around 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 5 when she was struck by a bicyclist who had been heading north on Chrystie Street.
The force of the crash sent the woman to the ground, where she suffered severe head trauma, police said. The bicyclist fled, while EMTs took the woman to Bellevue, where she died two days later, police said on Friday.
"The bicyclist is being sought," police said.
Cops released no other details, but the Village Sun identified the victim as Priscilla Loke, who lived nearby. And last week, CBS2 had posted a brief video of the crash that shows the cyclist moving northbound in the bike lane, striking the pedestrian at the northeast corner. The woman appears to be standing in the bike lane.
The video shows the cyclist initially remaining on the scene, but then leaves after talking to police. A witness told the station that the police "let him go."
Despite a perception that New York City streets are a "Wild West" because of rogue cyclists, a minuscule number of fatalities and injuries are caused by bike riders, according to city stats.
Every year, the Department of Transportation reports on crashes caused by cyclists. In 2022 (the last full year for which there is data), three pedestrians were killed by cyclists, while 131 pedestrians and cyclists were killed by car and truck drivers.
In that same year, 313 pedestrians were injured by cyclists, while 13,190 cyclists and pedestrians were injured by car and truck drivers. In other words, 98 percent of the fatalities and injuries last year were caused by the drivers of the much larger vehicles.
The victim at Chrystie and Grand streets is believed to be the third pedestrian killed by an electric bike or moped rider so far this year, versus 61 pedestrians killed by car and truck drivers. The same data show that 40 pedestrians have been injured so far this year by bicyclists and electric micromobility users (including mopeds and e-bikes) versus 5,259 injured by car and truck drivers.
Similarly to last year, that means that 95 percent of fatalities and 99 percent of injuries are caused by the drivers of cars and trucks.
The death of the pedestrian came just one day before another Chinatown senior was struck and killed by the driver of an Access-a-Ride van.
