{"id":309814,"date":"2026-07-30T14:27:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309814\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T14:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:27:17","slug":"nyc-teen-e-biker-fatally-struck-by-suv-near-city-hall-was-out-looking-for-summer-job-sister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309814\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC teen e-biker fatally struck by SUV near City Hall was out looking for summer job: sister"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn high schooler who died in a crash with an SUV while riding an illegal e-bike<\/a> past City Hall was seeking help filling out summer job applications when he was killed, his sister said.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Nacato, 17, was riding a Deepower e-moto bike when he and the driver of a 2008 black Chevy Tahoe collided near Chambers St. while heading in the same direction on Centre St. about 8:55 a.m. Wednesday, cops said.<\/p>\n

The victim\u2019s sister said the teen was killed on his way to Chinatown, where he planned to meet with job counselors for help filling out applications.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a beautiful boy. He was loved by everyone,\u201d said the sister, 25-year-old Fernanda Nacato. \u201cWe\u2019re all crying. We all miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel died at the scene, just steps away from the Municipal Building and City Hall.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"NYPDNYPD officers and detectives investigate a fatal e-bike collision on Centre St. near Chambers St. in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Under New York State law, bikes with electric motors exceeding 750 watts aren\u2019t permitted on city streets. City law also bars the use of e-mobility devices that exceed 25 mph. Nacato\u2019s bike had a 960-watt motor and could travel up to 30 mph, police said.<\/p>\n

His sister said she was unaware her brother\u2019s bike wasn\u2019t street legal.<\/p>\n

Sonia Ariza, 38, was working nearby when she heard a \u201chard, loud bang\u201d and glanced over to see another bicyclist attempting to resuscitate the teen.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see the body from the park and people were screaming,\u201d said Ariza. \u201cHe had his Jordans on and I was like, \u2018He was a kid! He was 17! He was a baby!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GabrielGabriel Nacato. (Courtesy of Family)<\/p>\n

The teen attended 11th grade at Manhattan International School and was preparing for his senior year, his sister said. He lived with his family in Bensonhurst, where the teen\u2019s relatives gathered Wednesday to console each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a funny extrovert. He was always very social and he was very kind,\u201d his sister said. \u201cWe\u2019re broken.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victim\u2019s sister said her family plans to send her brother\u2019s body back to Ecuador.<\/p>\n

The Tahoe driver, a 40-year-old woman, remained at the scene and wasn\u2019t immediately charged, cops said. An investigation by the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad remains ongoing.<\/p>\n

\"NYPDNYPD officers and detectives investigate a fatal e-bike collision on Centre St. near Chambers St. in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she came out of the car to see the kid, she was still on the phone,\u201d said Ariza. \u201cShe was standing with everyone and she was pacing back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel\u2019s death has spurred transportation advocates to demand an end to the sale of illegal high-speed e-mobility devices within city limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 17-year-old boy was sold something he should never have been allowed to buy, and now he\u2019s dead,\u201d said Ben Furnas, executive director at Transportation Alternatives. \u201cWe need New York\u2019s Attorney General and City Council to act now to end the sale of illegal high-speed devices, and save lives. They are dangerous high-speed devices that are putting pedestrians at risk, cyclists at risk, and the operators themselves at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teen\u2019s tragic death follows\u00a0a fatal crash on the Queensborough Bridge<\/a>\u00a0on May 28, when Francis Delvalle, 39, lost control of\u00a0the illegal high-speed scooter<\/a> he was riding\u00a0and slammed into Dmytro Stechenko, 35, who was riding a pedal bike.<\/p>\n

Medics rushed both men to\u00a0New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens<\/a>, where they died.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brooklyn high schooler who died in a crash with an SUV while riding an illegal e-bike past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6909,117179,9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-309814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-e-bike","tag-fatal-bo","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}