Driver Charged With Murder After Two Die at Manhattan Bridge
Police charged driver Autumn Romero with murder after a July 19 crash at Manhattan Bridge and Bowery, where the city record lists unsafe speed and two deaths: a cyclist and a pedestrian.
What We Know
According to the police report, a 23-year-old unlicensed driver in a 2024 Chevrolet sedan traveled west on the Manhattan Bridge at unsafe speed and hit a 55-year-old male cyclist and a 63-year-old female pedestrian who was recorded as not in the roadway. Both died of whole-body trauma. A 23-year-old female passenger in the car sustained chest fractures and a dislocation. Police recorded unsafe speed as a contributing factor.
What authorities say happened
The city crash record lists unsafe speed, a westbound sedan, an eastbound bike and a parked SUV. It records one injured motorist and two deaths, one cyclist and one pedestrian.
amNY reported that both women in the Malibu tried to leave after the crash and were apprehended a short time later. Officers from the 5th Precinct and EMS responded, and both Cruickshank and Kwok were pronounced dead at the scene.
At the Manhattan Bridge's Chinatown landing
The official record places the crash at Manhattan Bridge and Bowery. Press accounts describe the scene near Canal Street and Bowery, off the Manhattan Bridge in Chinatown.
amNY reported that, before this crash, the Canal Street and Bowery intersection had seen eight motorists injured in three crashes over the prior year, citing NYC Crash Mapper. West Side Spirit later reported a memorial, a protest vigil and public criticism of the city response after the deaths.
Kevin Cruickshank and May Kwok were named by police
NYPD officials identified the people killed as Kevin Cruickshank, 55, of Manhattan, and May Kwok of Brooklyn. The city record and several reports list Kwok as 63; a later West Side Spirit follow-up listed her as 62.
West Side Spirit reported that Cruickshank was a recreational cyclist from Morningside Heights and that a family spokesperson said he supported Transportation Alternatives and was preparing for the TA Century Ride. His sister, Sarah Witt, said he had set out on his yellow taxicab bike for a ride to Coney Island.
West Side Spirit reported that Kwok had been seated on a bench, and that her brother described what happened as a crime, not an accident.
Records and reports describe the Malibu, bike and parked police vehicle
The city record lists a 2024 Chevrolet sedan with two occupants and records the sedan driver's license status as unlicensed. It also lists a bike with one occupant and a parked SUV with no occupants.
Press reports identified the sedan as a Chevrolet Malibu rental and said prosecutors described it as overdue. The official record lists the parked vehicle as an SUV, while press accounts described the parked vehicle as an unoccupied NYPD van.