Carnage

Van Driver Kills Cyclist on Riverside Drive: Cops

The victim was a philanthropist who was cycling up Riverside Drive in Washington Heights early on Sunday.

By Nolan Hicks

12:03 AM EST on December 11, 2025

Geoffrey Radbill and life partner, Jan Kohn, were key backers of a new center at the Bowling Green State University. Courtesy: Bowling Green State University

The driver of a minivan hit and killed a philanthropist who was cycling north up Riverside Drive in Washington Heights on Sunday morning, according to friends and cops.

Cops say the 37-year-old driver of a silver Toyota minivan was driving on the narrow, inclined stretch of Riverside Drive between 158th and 160th streets at around 9 a.m. on Sunday when he struck the 78-year-old biker from behind.

This is the spot on Riverside Drive where cops say a drive killed Geoffrey Radbill.

The roadway is frequently used by cyclists heading to the George Washington Bridge. Most drivers are patient when they are behind a cyclist. Some are not.

The driver remained at the scene and was not charged. The investigation is ongoing, the NYPD said.

Meanwhile, the cyclist, Geoffrey Radbill, was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he died.

Radbill’s grieving partner declined to speak when reached at their Upper West Side apartment this week.

Radbill built a career at a major financial services firm in the city, AXA-Equitable. He became a prolific donor to his alma mater, Bowling Green State University in Ohio. A renovated portion of the university’s Mathematical Sciences Building was named after him in 2023.

He was also a major fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Radbill’s death is just the latest wreck at the uptown intersection.

City data show there have been 11 reported crashes at that intersection since January 2020, injuring one pedestrian and two cyclists.

There have been 79,188 reported collisions on city streets so far this year, the same records show, injuring 5,188 cyclists and 8,330 pedestrians.

Update: An NYPD spokesperson incorrectly told Streetsblog the crash occurred at 9 p.m. on Sunday. The story has been updated to reflect the actual timing over the crash, at around 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Nolan Hicks

Nolan Hicks is a longtime reporter in New York City, who focuses on investigative stories. He spent six years at The New York Post where his stories prompted the MTA to redesign parts of the Second Avenue Subway's East Harlem extension and helped uncover the LIRR overtime scandal. As a contributor to Curbed/New York Magazine, he dove into Amtrak's failing power grid, NJ Transit's reliability crisis and why it costs the MTA $100 million to put elevators into stations. He has also worked at the New York Daily News, Austin American-Statesman and San Antonio Express-News. He joined Streetsblog in January 2025.

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