A distinguished New York Metropolis Jewish chief suffered a damaged leg after being mowed down by a rogue hit-and-run e-bike driver — and says he’s “fortunate to be alive.”
Rabbi Michael Miller was coming back from a Jewish heritage occasion downtown to his Higher East Aspect residence on Might 21 when he stepped out of the No.6 practice station at 77th Road and Lexington Avenue and all of a sudden received slammed.
The out-of-control e-bike driver seemingly got here out of nowhere and blindsided him within the bike lane as he tried to cross Third Avenue at 77th Road.
“I fell on the asphalt and broke my proper leg. I suffered a contusion on my left leg,” stated Miller, who headed the Jewish Group Relations Council for 35 years and likewise is a retired NYPD chaplain.
“A minimum of I landed with out hitting my head.”
Writhing on the bottom, he was shocked by the heartless driver, who had been going the unsuitable manner down the one-way road.
“The e-bike driver checked out me for two or 3 seconds — after which drove off,” he stated.
Fortunately, a superb samaritan from the neighborhood referred to as 911 and medics transported him to the hospital. The NYPD stated there had been no arrest and the investigation was ongonig.
A former longtime chaplain well-known by the NYPD, Miller was additionally interviewed by a detective with the nineteenth Pct. on the scene.
He had a titanium rod inserted in his leg after practically 24 hours within the emergency room at NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital.
“I’m fortunate to be alive,” Miller informed The Submit between stints of bodily remedy.
Miller received a cellphone name the day after his surgical procedure from Mayor Eric Adams, whom he’s identified for many years. They mentioned the necessity for more durable legal guidelines and enforcement to control and prosecute reckless drivers of unlicensed e-scooters.
He’s now in a rehab facility, attempting to stroll once more with a large boot over his proper leg, accompanied by a walker.
Miller demanded more durable legal guidelines to license and regulation e-bikes and mopeds, and imposing stiffer penalties against reckless drivers.
“One thing must be performed about electrical bikes. Persons are afraid to stroll the streets,” Miller stated.
“They don’t abide by the site visitors legal guidelines,” he stated.
Miller spoke to the Submit whereas Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD on Wednesday announced a summer time crackdown to grab unlawful motorized scooters, mopeds, bikes, all terrain automobiles (ATVs), and different unregistered automobiles from the town streets.
MIller cited a bundle of payments pushed by one among his state representatives — Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright (D-Manhattan) — that must be handed into regulation together with: Will increase the penalties for leaving the scene of an accident involving an electrical scooter; and requiring the registration, inspection, insurance coverage and license plates for e-bikes.
“No New Yorker ought to must worry struggling collisions whereas strolling in their very own neighborhood from the epidemic of e-vehicles inflicting horrible accidents and even fatalities,” stated Seawright, who represents the Higher East Aspect, Yorkville and Roosevelt Island, and who visited Miller following the surgical procedure.
The NYPD eliminated greater than 13,000 unlawful two-wheeled automobiles and ATVs thus far this yr and confiscated 18,430 final yr. Most of the seized scooters are being crushed on the former Recent Kills landfill.
“What occurred to Michael Miller is unacceptable and a main instance of why the rampant use of unlawful mopeds on metropolis streets not solely degrade New Yorkers’ quality-of-life however are additionally a public security danger,” Adams informed The Submit.
“We won’t permit our streets to be overrun by these working these harmful automobiles, which is why as we speak we introduced the NYPD’s enhanced summer time enforcement technique to assist take away unlawful motorized unregistered automobiles from metropolis streets as hotter climate months usually see an uptick in crime patterns involving these unlawful automobiles. We’ll proceed to work on daily basis to make sure New Yorkers, like Michael Miller, really feel secure strolling their neighborhood streets.”
