Truck driver hits Camry on Queens expressway; driver dies.
Anything
A 52-year-old truck driver hit livery driver Carlos Astimbay's Camry after it collided with a median on the westbound Long Island Expressway early Feb. 6, 2026; Astimbay, 50, died.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
At 4:27 a.m. on Feb. 6, 2026, Carlos Astimbay was driving west on the Long Island Expressway in Queens when, police said, his Toyota Camry collided with the center median. A 52-year-old tractor-trailer driver then hit the Camry. Astimbay, 50, died after medics took him to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital; the truck driver was also hospitalized. The official crash record lists slippery pavement as a factor for both vehicles. Police are investigating whether sanitation crews moved snow and ice from the shoulder into a travel lane before the crash. Sources told the Daily News that a crew had done so, but whether that contributed to the crash remains under investigation.
A median collision preceded the impact.
Police said Carlos Astimbay was driving a 2014 Toyota Camry west when it collided with the center median. A 52-year-old driver in a 2018 Kenworth tractor-trailer, also traveling west, then hit the Camry. The Daily News, citing police, reported that the truck driver had swerved to avoid another vehicle before hitting the Camry's passenger side.
Medics took Astimbay to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The truck driver was also taken to the hospital and survived.
Reports place the crash near Queens expressway exits.
The crash happened on the westbound Long Island Expressway in Queens, near Flushing Meadows Corona Park. QNS placed it just past the College Point Boulevard exit, near Exit 22B; the Daily News and ABC7 described the area as near the Van Wyck Expressway exit.
Astimbay's family remembered a devoted father.
Astimbay was 50 and lived in Queens. QNS and CBS spell his surname Astimbay; the Daily News and ABC7 spell it Asitimbay.
He spent two decades driving livery cabs.
His family told ABC7 that he had a wife and two children and had worked as a livery cab driver in the city for 20 years. CBS reported that his family remembered him as a devoted father who would do anything to help loved ones.
Investigators are examining snow removal.
The official crash record lists slippery pavement as a contributing factor for both vehicles. Police are investigating whether sanitation crews moved snow and ice from the shoulder into a travel lane. City and police sources told the Daily News that a sanitation worker had done so less than two hours before the crash; whether that work contributed to Astimbay's death remains under investigation.
A supervisor was suspended as the inquiry continued.
City government sources told the Daily News that a Sanitation Department supervisor was placed on 10 days of unpaid leave after the crash. A department spokesman said officials would consider further personnel or disciplinary action after the police investigation. QNS reported on Feb. 9 that police had made no arrests; the Daily News reported on Feb. 19 that the truck driver had not been charged.