Van driver opens door before e-bike rider dies in Soho crash
At 10:13 a.m. on May 1, 2025, a van driver opened a door near Broome and Centre Streets, police sources said, and 44-year-old e-bike rider Georgios Smaragdis died after being thrown into a box truck driver’s path.
What We Know
On the morning of May 1, 2025, Georgios Smaragdis, 44, was riding west on Broome Street near Centre Street in Soho. Police sources told local outlets that a Mercedes van driver opened a door, Smaragdis hit it, and the impact sent him into the path of a red delivery box truck; the box truck driver then ran over him. The official record places the crash at 10:13 a.m. and records one cyclist killed, with no other reported injuries. Medics took Smaragdis to Bellevue Hospital, where he died. The Daily News later identified him as the electronic musician and visual-effects artist known as Starcadian. Early reports said both drivers remained at the scene, no charges had been filed or announced, and NYPD investigators were reviewing the crash.
A dooring led into a truck driver’s path
The official record places the crash at Broome Street and Centre Street in Manhattan at 10:13 a.m. on May 1, 2025, and records one cyclist killed. Local reports, citing police, said Georgios Smaragdis was riding west on Broome Street when a Mercedes van driver opened a door near Centre Street.
Police sources told the Daily News and amNY that Smaragdis hit the open door and was thrown into the path of a red delivery box truck. The Daily News reported that the box truck driver ran over him.
Georgios Smaragdis was known to fans as Starcadian
Police identified the rider as Georgios Smaragdis, 44, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The Daily News reported that he suffered severe head trauma and died at Bellevue Hospital.
Friends and fans told the Daily News that Smaragdis was the electronic producer and musician known as Starcadian, an influential figure in synthwave who also worked as a visual effects artist.
Reports and the official record describe the vehicles differently
News reports described the dooring vehicle as a Mercedes van and the second vehicle as a red delivery box truck. The official record classifies the Mercedes as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle, lists the truck as a 2014 International box truck, and later lists the rider’s vehicle as an e-bike.
Broome Street has a recent record of injury crashes
The crash happened at Broome Street and Centre Street in Manhattan.
CrashCountNYC’s location context for Broome Street in Manhattan counts 294 crashes, 116 injuries, 8 serious injuries and 1 death since 2022.
The drivers stayed as investigators reviewed the crash
Early reports said the box truck driver remained at the scene, and the Daily News later reported that both drivers remained. amNY reported that no charges had been filed against the truck driver as of May 1 and that the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad was investigating. The Daily News reported the next day that it was not yet clear whether either driver would be charged.