LIE driver killed; snow-removal practices scrutinized
Carlos Astimbay, 50, was killed and another motorist was injured in a 4:27 a.m. westbound Long Island Expressway crash involving a sedan and a tractor-trailer, and reports said investigators were examining snow and ice in a travel lane.
What We Know
Carlos Astimbay, a 50-year-old Jamaica man and livery driver, was traveling west on the Long Island Expressway before dawn on Feb. 6, 2026. The official crash record lists slippery pavement for both drivers and records one motorist killed and one injured in a crash involving a 2014 Toyota sedan and a 2018 diesel tractor truck. QNS, citing police, reported that Astimbay hit the center median near Exit 22B and that a 52-year-old tractor-trailer driver then hit the Toyota, remained at the scene and was hospitalized. The Daily News and CBS reported that investigators were examining whether a Sanitation worker had pushed snow and ice from the shoulder into an active lane before the crash; a Sanitation supervisor was later suspended while the NYPD review continued.
Before dawn on the westbound expressway
The official record says the crash happened at 4:27 a.m. on Feb. 6, 2026, on the Long Island Expressway and involved a westbound sedan and a westbound diesel tractor truck. It records one motorist killed and one motorist injured.
QNS, citing police, reported that Carlos Astimbay was driving a 2014 Toyota Camry westbound near Exit 22B when he hit the center median. The report said a 52-year-old tractor-trailer driver, also traveling west, then hit the Toyota, remained at the scene and was taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in stable condition.
Reports placed the crash near Flushing Meadows Corona Park
The official record places the crash on the Long Island Expressway in Queens. News accounts described the westbound scene near Flushing Meadows Corona Park, but used different nearby highway references: QNS placed it just past the College Point Boulevard exit near Exit 22B, CBS described it near Exit 22 in Flushing, and the Daily News described it near the exit to the Van Wyck Expressway.
The Daily News reported that Astimbay was killed in a 50-mph zone, a detail central to later questions about whether snow and ice had been pushed from the shoulder into a lane where drivers were moving at highway speed.
Carlos Astimbay and the other driver
QNS and CBS identified the driver who died as Carlos Astimbay, 50, of Jamaica; the Daily News spelled his surname Asitimbay. CBS reported that he was a married father of two and a livery cab driver whose family remembered him as devoted to his loved ones.
QNS reported that EMS took Astimbay to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Daily News reported that he suffered severe head and body trauma.
The tractor-trailer driver was 52, according to QNS and the Daily News. QNS reported that he remained at the scene and was hospitalized in stable condition; the Daily News reported that he had minor injuries and had not been charged.
Slippery pavement and snow-removal questions
CBS reported that police were investigating whether snowplow practices were properly followed. A spokesperson for the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers said snow that should have been cleared safely onto the shoulder may have been pushed back into active lanes, and an attorney for Astimbay's family said they believed snowplow practices may have played a significant role.
City review and discipline followed
QNS reported shortly after the crash that there were no arrests and that the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad was continuing its investigation. The Daily News later reported that a Sanitation Department supervisor was put on 10-day unpaid leave after the crash, and CBS also reported that a supervisor had been suspended.
DSNY spokesman Joshua Goodman told the Daily News that the fatal crash was under NYPD investigation and that personnel or disciplinary action would be taken after the investigation if deemed necessary and appropriate. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he could not comment while the crash remained under investigation.