N.J. man becomes 15th biking fatality
Dies weeks after truck hit near Hudson Yds.
The death of a 74-year-old bicyclist struck by a UPS truck near Hudson Yards three months ago has officially been added to this year’s growing list of cycling fatalities, making him one of 15 riders killed in 2019.
Police added New Jersey resident Victor Ang’s death to the grim list of bicyclists over the Fourth of July holiday after a medical examiner in the Garden State determined that his death was linked to the injuries he sustained during the April 27 crash.
Ang died of his injuries at a New Jersey rehabilitation center on June 4. Bicycle advocates alerted to Ang’s death had already included him in their tally of 15 cyclists killed this year.
The Leonia, N.J., resident was riding a CitiBike south on 11th Ave. near 30th St. about 6:40 p.m. when he collided with the eightwheel cab of a UPS semitruck, said cops. The crash scene is a busy section of 11th Ave. in far western Chelsea, near Hudson Yards and a stairway leading to the High Line.
The UPS driver remained at the scene. No charges were filed.
Ang was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition, but soon taken to a rehab facility near his home, cops said.
NYPD officials said Ang’s death could not be officially included on the list until a medical examiner determined that his death was directly linked to the crash. The New Jersey medical examiner’s office handling Ang’s case did not release their findings to the NYPD until this week.
Ang, a realtor and a renowned photographer, was born in the Philippines and was one of eight children, according to his obituary.
“He was a clever man, a MacGyver, nothing was insurmountable,” his family wrote. “He lit up every room he was in, and was known for his good sense of humor, his jokes, and laughter.”
“He showed kindness to everyone around him,” his relatives said. Ang is survived by his wife and daughter.
On Monday, 28-year-old Devra Freelander was struck and killed by a cement truck in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, becoming the third cyclist to be killed on the city’s streets in a week.
The cycling advocate group Transportation Alternatives called the jump in deaths a “state of emergency” for Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative geared toward reducing traffic deaths and demanded City Hall create “an emergency response plan worthy of this crisis that can be implemented as soon as possible.”