A father of two biking to work in Queens died on his birthday yesterday after smashing into a truck, police said.
Alexander Martinez, who had just turned 37, was on his usual commute from Jamaica to Long Island City at about 6 a.m., when he collided with the truck merging onto Queens Boulevard from the Van Wyck Expressway in Kew Gardens.
“He was thrown about 10 feet in the air, and ended up first on his side and then on his back,” said an eyewitness, Charles, a local worker who asked that his last name not be used.
“The bicycle was mangled. The wheels were twisted.”
Wayne Carrington
SUCH A TRAGEDY: A bicycle lies mangled on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens yesterday after the rider fatally collided with a truck.
Alexander Martinez
Martinez, an electrician, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.
Cops were still seeking the truck driver last night.
Martinez’s brother, George, blasted the lack of pedestrian safety on Queens Boulevard — dubbed the “Boulevard of Death” due to the historically high number of fatalities on the 7.2-mile road that spans Jamaica and Long Island City.
“He took that route every morning. It’s absolutely dangerous,” George Martinez said. “[Mayor] Bloomberg is supposed to be all for the cyclists — and there are no accommodations for cyclists on that street.”
Martinez’s heartbroken mother, Martha Cortez, 73, went to the scene of the crash in a wheelchair and left a bouquet of flowers on the spot where her unconscious son was found by emergency workers.
“I told him so many times, ‘Don’t go with the bike,’ ” she said, crying.
“I was going to make a cake for him, but now he is not coming home,” Cortez added, remembering a loving son who often cooked fish, fried chicken and soup for her.
“I broke my hips and he took care of me. He would say, ‘Mommy, are you tired of the house? Let’s go to the park and get some fresh air.’ He was my angel.”
Martinez’s wife and two children — a girl, 4, and a boy, 12 — live in Florida.
He moved to Queens recently to find work and send money back to his family.
“He was funny and friendly with everybody,” Cortez said of her younger son. “He never fought with anyone.”
He planned to travel to Florida this weekend to celebrate his birthday with his kids.
“He was a great father, an incredible brother,” George Martinez said. “He will be missed.”
