A prominent New York City Jewish leader suffered a broken leg after being mowed down by a rogue hit-and-run e-bike driver — and says he’s “lucky to be alive.”
Rabbi Michael Miller was returning from a Jewish heritage event downtown to his Upper East Side home on May 21 when he stepped out of the No.6 train station at 77th Street and Lexington Avenue and suddenly got slammed.
The out-of-control e-bike driver seemingly came out of nowhere and blindsided him in the bike lane as he attempted to cross Third Avenue at 77th Street.
“I fell on the asphalt and broke my right leg. I suffered a contusion on my left leg,” said Miller, who headed the Jewish Community Relations Council for 35 years and also is a retired NYPD chaplain.
“At least I landed without hitting my head.”
Writhing on the ground, he was stunned by the heartless driver, who had been going the wrong way down the one-way street.
“The e-bike driver looked at me for 2 or 3 seconds — and then drove off,” he said.
Luckily, a good samaritan from the neighborhood called 911 and medics transported him to the hospital. The NYPD said there had been no arrest and the investigation was ongonig.
A former longtime chaplain well known by the NYPD, Miller was also interviewed by a detective with the 19th Pct. at the scene.
He had a titanium rod inserted in his leg after nearly 24 hours in the emergency room at NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” Miller told The Post between stints of physical therapy.
Miller got a phone call the day after his surgery from Mayor Eric Adams, whom he’s known for decades. They discussed the need for tougher laws and enforcement to regulate and prosecute reckless drivers of unlicensed e-scooters.
He’s now in a rehab facility, trying to walk again with a massive boot over his right leg, accompanied by a walker.
Miller demanded tougher laws to license and regulation e-bikes and mopeds, and imposing stiffer penalties against reckless drivers.
“Something needs to be done about electric bikes. People are afraid to walk the streets,” Miller said.
“They don’t abide by the traffic laws,” he said.
Miller spoke to the Post while Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD on Wednesday announced a summer crackdown to seize illegal motorized scooters, mopeds, bikes, all terrain vehicles (ATVs), and other unregistered vehicles from the city streets.
MIller cited a package of bills pushed by one of his state representatives — Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright (D-Manhattan) — that should be passed into law including: Increases the penalties for leaving the scene of an accident involving an electric scooter; and requiring the registration, inspection, insurance and license plates for e-bikes.
“No New Yorker should have to fear suffering collisions while walking in their own neighborhood from the epidemic of e-vehicles causing horrible injuries and even fatalities,” said Seawright, who represents the Upper East Side, Yorkville and Roosevelt Island, and who visited Miller following the surgery.
The NYPD removed more than 13,000 illegal two-wheeled vehicles and ATVs thus far this year and confiscated 18,430 last year. Many of the seized scooters are being crushed at the former Fresh Kills landfill.
“What happened to Michael Miller is unacceptable and a prime example of why the rampant use of illegal mopeds on city streets not only degrade New Yorkers’ quality-of-life but are also a public safety risk,” Adams told The Post.
“We will not allow our streets to be overrun by those operating these dangerous vehicles, which is why today we announced the NYPD’s enhanced summer enforcement strategy to help remove illegal motorized unregistered vehicles from city streets as warmer weather months typically see an uptick in crime patterns involving these illegal vehicles. We will continue to work every day to ensure New Yorkers, like Michael Miller, feel safe walking their neighborhood streets.”
