– 17-year-old on an e-bike (specifically a Deepower e-moto with a 1,500-watt motor)
– Crashed into a 2008 black Chevrolet Tahoe driven by a 40-year-old
– Both heading northbound on Centre Street
– Near Chambers Street/NYPD Headquarters
– Wednesday morning around 9 a.m.
– Teen was coming off the Brooklyn Bridge
– Teen pronounced dead at scene with head injuries
– Driver remained at scene, no arrests
– This is part of larger e-bike death crisis in NYC
A 17-year-old riding an e-bike was killed after crashing into an SUV in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, police said.
The teen and the 40-year-old SUV driver were both heading northbound on Centre Street when they crashed, and the cyclist lost control, police said.
The 17-year-old crashed into an SUV near Centre and Chambers streets in Manhattan on July 29.
Police say the male victim was riding an e-bike when he was struck just steps away from NYPD Headquarters at Centre Street between Chambers and Reade streets.
The boy suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The teen has not been identified.
He had just come off the nearby Brooklyn Bridge on an e-bike, police believe.
The device involved was not a standard e-bike.
A reporter on the scene found the rider of a Deepower e-moto — an illegal electric bike weighing 103 pounds and carrying a 1,500-watt motor — lying just north of Chambers Street in the roadway surrounded by an enormous pool of blood.
It is unclear why the e-motor rider was outside of the bike lane — though it is illegal for such vehicles to use city bike lanes.
The segment of Centre Street north of Chambers, where the driver and e-moto rider were sharing space, is exceptionally narrow and is often filled with parked cars, narrowing the space further.
The SUV driver remained at the scene.
There have been no arrests.
The NYPD’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad is handling the probe.
The death marks the latest in a growing crisis.
According to the NYPD, 16 motorcyclists have been killed in crashes this year, up from 10 over the same period last year.
According to police, 13 “traditional bicyclists and e-bicyclists” have been involved in fatal collisions so far this year. That’s compared to just eight victims this time last year.
The tragedy comes amid debate over enforcement policies.
Beginning Friday, March 27, the New York City Police Department (NYPD)’s policy under the prior administration of issuing criminal summonses to e-bike riders and cyclists for low-level traffic offenses will be rescinded.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani made that shift earlier this year.
“By ending criminal summonses for low-level traffic offenses, we’re ensuring cyclists and e-bike riders — including those who deliver our food and groceries — are treated like others on the road,” Mayor Mamdani said.
However, the policy change has drawn criticism from safety advocates. Some families who lost loved ones to e-bike crashes have pushed back against the removal of criminal enforcement.
One bereaved family member said “Enough is enough. Take a stance. Crack down now.”
In the viral moment that propelled e-bike safety into the spotlight before the policy shift, a 49-year-old man was struck and killed by an e-bike rider in Brooklyn. Witnesses described the scene vividly.
“He was parked right there, by the tree,” a witness said. “He was sitting right there [on the curb]. He was talking to police and he looked concerned. It’s not like he hit somebody and ran. He was cooperating with police and stuff.” EMS rushed the victim to Bellevue Hospital, where he died a short time later.
In 2024, 9,610 pedestrians were injured in crashes, just 37 of them in crashes with e-bike riders — meaning that e-bike riders caused just 0.4 percent of pedestrian injuries that year.
But riders themselves face outsized risk from vehicles.
The Deepower e-moto is marketed as “legal,” but it has a 30 mph top speed, which is not legal.