Scooter rider and cyclist die in Queensboro Bridge path collision
Scooter rider Francis Delvalle, 39, was passing when he collided with cyclist Dmytro Stechenko, 35, on the Queensboro Bridge bike path at 8:21 a.m. May 28; both men died.
Approximate reported location.
What We Know
Police said Francis Delvalle moved into the opposing lane to pass a bicyclist before colliding with Dmytro Stechenko on the Queensboro Bridge bike path. Both men died after medics took them to the hospital. Investigators had not established either rider's speed in the reports reviewed. Stechenko, a Meta software engineer, shared a longtime friendship and a love of cycling with Alex Pawlowski. Delvalle left a wife and two children. The deaths renewed calls to restrict sales of high-speed scooters.
A collision during the morning commute
Police said Delvalle was riding a stand-up electric scooter westbound when he moved into the opposing lane to pass a bicyclist and collided with Stechenko, who was riding eastbound. Medics took both men to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, where they died.
The vehicle record also places the scooter westbound and the bicycle eastbound, but amNewYork reported their directions the other way around. The crash record's overall death count is zero, even though its individual entries mark both men killed and news reports confirm both deaths.
Two directions on a bridge bike path
The Queensboro Bridge connects Midtown Manhattan and Long Island City, Queens, over Roosevelt Island. Cyclists use its north outer roadway, which became a bike-only path when the city moved pedestrians to the south outer roadway in 2025. A painted white line separates the path's opposing directions.
The two men who died
Dmytro Stechenko
Stechenko, 35, lived in Long Island City and worked as a software engineer at Meta. His friend Alex Pawlowski said they met while studying computer science in Kyiv 16 years earlier and later rode endurance laps together in Central Park. Longtime friend Yukiko Kurashima remembered him: "Everybody loved him." A worker at Stechenko's building said he lived with his wife.
Francis Delvalle
Delvalle, 39, was on his way to work, according to his son. "He was a good man. A very good man," his son said. Delvalle's friend Rachel Huynh said he left a wife and two children.
The passing maneuver and unanswered speed question
The crash record identifies Delvalle's scooter as a Teverun Blade GT II and records passing before the collision. It lists traffic-control disregard and unsafe lane changing as factors for the scooter rider. Police later said Delvalle moved into the oncoming lane while passing a bicyclist. The model was advertised as capable of 53 mph, but police had not established how fast either man was traveling.
Calls for changes after the deaths
Transportation Alternatives urged the City Council to advance a bill restricting sales of e-bikes and e-scooters capable of exceeding 20 mph. In a later interview, Stechenko's friend Pawlowski also called for better street design. Scooter maker Teverun added a website warning that the Blade GT II's higher-speed mode was intended for private or off-road use.