Cyclist Struck By For-Hire Vehicle Driver Near Hudson Greenway

The scene at West Street and Liberty Street

The driver of a for-hire vehicle struck a cyclist in lower Manhattan on Friday morning in what appeared to be an intentional ramming, according to one witness.

Helen Moore says she was riding along the Hudson River Greenway near Liberty Street just before 9 a.m. when she watched a cyclist enter the intersection with the green light. "Next thing I know this Cadillac Escalade just plowed into the bike and sent the cyclist into the air," she told Gothamist. "It seemed like he just wasn't going to stop, like he was playing chicken almost. It looked deliberate because, to me, he couldn't have not seen him."

The cyclist remained motionless on the ground, she said, while the driver stopped his vehicle and remained on the scene. According to Moore and others in the area, the cyclist seemed in shock and was eventually placed in an ambulance. Neither the FDNY nor the NYPD had immediate information about the incident.

"There were several police officers on scene, but they didn't seem to be asking anyone if they witnessed it," noted Moore. "I kept saying, 'I saw the whole thing, does anyone want my information?' Finally one of them took it."

"I don't know what they ultimately did with the driver, but I didn't see them talking to him very much," she added.

According to the vehicle's plates, the Escalade is licensed with the DMC Limousine Service, and has had five parking and camera violations in the last year.

Two years ago, a cyclist biking along the Hudson River Greenway was killed by a hit-and-run driver at the Chambers Street intersection. The driver eventually pled guilty to leaving the scene, criminally negligent homicide, and driving under the influence of alcohol, and was sentenced to one to four years in prison.