Day: May 4, 2025

Overcast skies did not stop over 30,000 bicyclists from taking part in the country’s largest charitable bike tour on Sunday. 

With the sun hiding behind clouds at times throughout the day, cyclists of all skill levels from all over the world flooded NYC on May 4 for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, a 40-mile trek through the five boroughs that is organized by Bike New York. 

Adding a celestial spin, Han Solo, Darth Vader and C3PO fans were out in full force wearing Star Wars’ attire to celebrate May 4, the movie franchise’s unique holiday.   

Beginning on Chambers Street, the first wave of cyclists rolled out just after 7:30 a.m. under clear skies and warm spring air. With the financial district in the rearview, the route wound its way north past Central Park and through Harlem, where local residents lined sidewalks, offering high-fives, cheers, and often-needed encouragement.

Crossing into the Bronx, riders got a quick taste of the city’s northernmost borough before looping back into Manhattan before reaching the halfway mark in Queens.

For the early riders, Brooklyn brought a burst of energy along with bright sunny conditions. Neighborhoods such as Williamsburg and Greenpoint featured live music, cheering crowds, and volunteers with refreshments and directions. The ride took a tolling-turn once on the BQE, building the anticipation of the looming Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge—the most physically demanding part of the tour.

The ascent to the top of the bridge, at the cusp of the 40-mile mark, tested even experienced cyclists.

Kathleen from Love Your Brain, a nonprofit supporting brain injury survivors, participated in a ride for resilience to raise awareness about the importance of helmet safety and community support.

“Love Your Brain is this amazing organization, nonprofit organization, that provides community service and offerings for individuals who survive brain injuries,” she said. “There’s more brain injury accidents in biking than there are in football. So it just is an awareness of helmets and being resilient, and just a sense of community that Love Your Brain promotes across the organization.”

Kathleen said she exceeded her individual fundraising goal, with 85% of Love Your Brain’s profits coming from brain injury survivors. She expressed excitement about the community aspect, including support from her girlfriend.

“The people like who I’m sitting here with, the community, like my girlfriend flew in from Florida to do this with me, because she loves me and supports my brain, but the community, so just all of us being together in the beginning, middle and end,” she said.

Ken Podziba, president and CEO of Bike New York, discussed the significance of the annual event, which made its 47th ride through the Big Apple this year, and what it means for inclusivity. 

“There were so many women, which you don’t see. It invites people of color, people of all abilities,” he said of the tour, which was just ranked by USA Today as the top road cycling event in the country. We have over 100 blind people riding today. It’s just people coming together. 65 countries around the world, every state in the nation. It’s a microcosm of the world.”

Podziba also highlighted Bike New York’s sustainability efforts, which include everything from recycling ink in their offices to refurbishing bikes.

“We completely take it apart, put it back together, we give it to New Yorkers who can’t afford bikes, or we sell enough to a community bike shop in Brooklyn called Recycle Bicycle,” he explained. “And if we can’t use the bikes, because sometimes they’re in such bad condition, we’ll strip the parts and we give it to a scrap metal company. So the parts are reused, so we’re all about sustainability.”

The ride ended with a festive atmosphere on Staten Island, where cyclists were greeted with food vendors, live entertainment, and a strong sense of mutual accomplishment.

Heavy downpours at midday saw celebrations cut short before riders were back in the saddle to board waiting ferries and buses back to the mainland.

Domenick Napoletano, President of the New York State Bar Association, congratulates honorees of the Judith S. Kaye Service Awards.

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More cyclists and pedestrians are out and about as the spring weather heats up in New York — but the risk of collisions is also increasing with more traffic on the streets. 

Case in point, on May 1, a cyclist was struck and killed after he rode into a van’s open door, propelling him into the intersection of Broome and Centre Streets in Soho, where he was subsequently crushed under a moving commercial truck. 

Prior to that, on April 25, a motorcyclist struck and killed 23-year-old Breanna Henderson as she attempted to cross Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens. According to the investigation, the traffic signal was changing from yellow to red when the collision occurred. 

And on April 19, an FDNY fire truck was responding to an emergency when it collided with a cyclist at Juniper Boulevard and 80th Street in Queens. The cyclist died at the scene, according to the investigation.

Despite the recent spate of street collision deaths, each of which is under investigation by the NYPD, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) maintains that it has increased its efforts to keep cyclists and riders of motorized two-wheeled vehicles safe, including the installation of a record number of protected bike lanes. 

Over three years, the agency implemented 87.5 miles of protected bike lanes and more than 20 miles of existing bike lanes with “new, sturdier” barriers throughout the city. 

“NYC DOT has seen a historically low number of traffic fatalities since the start of this year and will continue to put the safety of New Yorkers at the heart of all agency work,” an agency spokesperson said.

It is not all about cyclist protection. The DOT also said that protected bike lanes reduce pedestrian deaths and serious injuries by nearly 30% because they shorten crossing distances and improve visibility.

“During the past three years of the Adams administration, NYC DOT has built a record number of protected bike lanes and upgraded existing bike infrastructure to provide safer streets for cyclists and New Yorkers using all modes of transportation,” the spokesperson said.

Although DOT reported a 30.6% decline in total traffic fatalities compared to last year as of May 1, the statistics remain grim, especially for pedestrians. Over 2,800 pedestrians have been involved in traffic collisions so far this year, including 36 fatalities, as of April 27, according to the latest NYPD TrafficStat data. 

TrafficStat does not provide a breakdown of how the pedestrians were killed and what kind of vehicles were involved, but the DOT reported 47 fatalities in street collisions as of May 1 — 37 pedestrians, two cyclists, five e-bike riders, one moped rider and two motorcyclists.

Bike riders to face criminal summonses under NYPD policy

Meanwhile, the NYPD is stepping up its efforts to enforce street safety not just on drivers but also bicyclists. 

As part of the NYPD’s new Quality of Life Unit that launched last month, cops will focus on addressing non-arrestable offenses, such as illegal parking, noise complaints, even e-vehicle riders who break the rules of the road — mostly based on concerns New Yorkers file into the city’s 311 non-emergency complaint system. 

“Out-of-control scooters and e-bikes is something we’re hearing a lot,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told amNewYork last month while discussing the new unit. 

NYPD officials said at a City Council Public Safety Committee hearing on April 28 that despite the summonses being non-arrestable, offenders may still have to appear in criminal court to rectify their offenses. 

Criminal summonses would now be utilized to apply to six specific violations for e-bike riders: reckless driving, operating under the influence, driving against traffic, and failure to obey traffic control devices like red lights and stop signs. 

Staying safe on the roads

As city officials continue to work on plans for keeping pedestrians and cyclists of all kinds of bikes safe, public safety experts say there are many precautions people can take when they head out on foot or pedal, especially as weather improves.

“Warmer weather almost always leads to a noticeable uptick in cyclists, e-bike riders and pedestrians,” explained Michael Matos, founder of Personal Protect Concepts, a personal and organizational safety company. It’s predictable and should be planned for. As more people choose biking as an affordable, eco-friendly alternative to driving or crowded public transit, especially in spring and summer, the streets get more crowded, and without proper safety infrastructure, that can quickly become dangerous.” 

Matos explained that bike safety is not only about wearing a helmet but about “riding smart in a high-risk environment.” He said cyclists in NYC should consider a “layered approach” to protection. This includes a helmet with advanced impact technology, integrated lighting that activates automatically, and reflective gear. 

“A helmet-mounted mirror gives you rear visibility without swerving, and a compact trauma kit with gauze and compression bandages, not just band-aids, can help in serious crashes,” he said.  

Other biking equipment that can help, Matos said, includes a phone mount paired with safety apps that allow cyclists to discreetly send their location and emergency information to first responders if something goes wrong. GPS trackers and smart horns that rivers can hear are “survival tools,” Matos said. 

“These upgrades may seem small, but in a city like this, they’re what keeps you alive,” he said. 

The Trump administration is once again under fire for targeting the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), a lifeline for thousands of 9/11 responders and survivors.

On May 2, President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired 16 additional medical staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), where critical WTCHP work is done. U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand condemned the move Sunday, calling it a dangerous betrayal of the nation’s commitment to 9/11 heroes.

“This is MAGA extremism, pure and simple,” Schumer said, blasting the cuts as a politically motivated assault that harms those who risked everything in the wake of the attacks.

“It is revolting that President Trump and Secretary Kennedy…fired even more staffers at NIOSH, critical doctors and scientists who have dedicated their lives to helping these sick people and many others,” the Senate minority leader added.

Gillibrand echoed the outrage, saying the administration’s actions were a direct attack on the memory and sacrifice of 9/11 responders.

“Once again, President Trump is betraying the heroes who stepped up and risked their lives in one of our nation’s darkest hours,” she said. “It’s an outrageous betrayal of ‘never forget.’”

The World Trade Center Health Program provides ongoing treatment, monitoring, and research for over 137,000 people affected by the 9/11 attacks. These include survivors and first responders from Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and the United Airlines Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, PA.

Schumer emphasized that New York Republican House members have the leverage to stop the cuts. He urged them to use their upcoming budget vote to force Trump to reinstate the medical personnel and reverse the damage.

Representatives of first responders were equally scathing.

Gary Smiley of FDNY EMS Local 2507 said the administration’s actions “place in peril the lives and health of every responder and survivor that rely on this program for their care.” He added, “The delays in care these egregious actions are causing are reprehensible.”

Mariama James, a WTCHP participant, voiced frustration and exhaustion over the repeated attacks.

“We’re tired of the Trump Administration and Secretary Kennedy’s lies…we’re tired of having to trot our chronically ill onto stages to prove our suffering,” she said.

Schumer and Gillibrand have championed the WTCHP since its bipartisan founding in 2011. They reauthorized and extended the program through 2090 and have secured over $1.6 billion in funding since 2022.