DEADLY JOYRIDE
‘Doing what he loved,’ says biker’s family
Motorcycle-loving Stylianos Berios went for a joyride that ended in heartbreak.
The Greek immigrant was killed this past weekend in a Queens collision with another motorcycle, leaving his devastated family to weep over the sudden and shocking death of their beloved 65year-old patriarch.
“He woke up happy that day,” recalled his daughter Georgia Berios, who spoke with her dad at 8 a.m. Saturday before his fateful final ride from their Bayside home.
“It was a jolly day for him. He ate his breakfast, got dressed … He went outside and started his motorcycle.”
The 35-year-old daughter recalled warning her dad “three or four times” before watching as Berios drove off on the 2003 American Iron Horse to see his son and grandchildren on the way to a visit with his best friend.
As it turned out, the friend’s body shop was closed for Labor Day weekend — so the friend wasn’t even at work when Berios died about a half-mile away in a crash with another biker at 31st St. and 36th Ave. in Astoria.
“Sometimes he stops [by] without saying,” said the friend, George Zikos, owner of TGM Auto Repair, who has known Berios for three decades. “He’s basically family. A happy guy. It’s just terrible.”
Berios was one of four motorcyclist to die citywide in crashes over the three-day Labor Day weekend.
There have been 31 fatal motorcycle crashes in the city so far this year as of Monday, a frightening 63% rise from the 19 deaths by this time last year, cops said. There were 25 motorcycle deaths in all of 2019.
Family members recovered a shattered piece of Berios’ broken motorcycle from the street as a keepsake. The other driver suffered facial injuries after the collision where he made a left turn in front of Berios’ motorcycle, cops said.
“What kills us most is that [Berios] had the right of way,” said 35-year-old Georgia. “He was going straight. He wasn’t turning or anything.”
Berios, known to family and friends as Steve, surreptitiously bought the bike on Facebook last year. According to Georgia, he spent more time doting on the bike than actually taking it for a spin.
“Maybe like 10 times he rode it,” she recalled. “He would just bring it out of the garage and clean it, fix it. And then that one, stupid joyride.”
Daughter Elaina Berios, 27, recalled how her dad created his own construction company after immigrating to New York in 1985.
“Started from nothing,” she recalled. “He came here from Greece with barely anything and made a whole life. That was his blood, sweat and tears, to build houses. People called him a giant with a kid’s soul. He was a big guy. I couldn’t even get fingers through his hands because they were so big.”
Elaina said her dad bought the bike last year on a bit of a lark.
“He wanted one just to have a toy,” she explained. “To clean it, take it around the block, nothing crazy. It was just an unfortunate event.”
Wife Maria Berios and her daughters, making plans for a Wednesday wake and a Thursday funeral, remained a jumble of emotions over the tragedy.
“We don’t know how to feel about anything,” said Elaina Berios.
“We just want his soul to rest right now. He died doing what he loved, that’s what we’re holding on to.”