Cab driver’s wrong-way lane use before fatal Queens crash
Police said a 47-year-old cab driver was heading east in the westbound lane of Northern Boulevard before a head-on crash in which 59-year-old scooter rider Antonios Spyropoulos died; the official record put the crash near 29-76 Northern Boulevard at 11:53 p.m. Nov. 27, 2023.
What We Know
Antonios Spyropoulos, 59, was riding a 2020 Yamaha XMAX 300 on Northern Boulevard just east of 41st Avenue late on Nov. 27, 2023. Police said a 47-year-old man driving a 2023 Toyota Rav4 yellow taxi was heading east in the westbound lane before a head-on collision. Spyropoulos was thrown to the roadway with head and body trauma, taken by EMS to Bellevue, and pronounced dead. The official record counted one motorist death, involved a moped and a taxi, and listed driver inexperience; the taxi entry also listed improper passing or lane use. Police said the cab driver remained at the scene, and QNS reported that he was not arrested as the NYPD investigation continued.
Police focused on the cab driver’s lane position
The official record logged the crash at 11:53 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2023, near 29-76 Northern Boulevard. Police told reporters that a 47-year-old man driving a 2023 Toyota Rav4 yellow taxi was traveling east in the westbound lane when there was a head-on collision with Antonios Spyropoulos just east of 41st Avenue.
The official record described both drivers as going straight ahead before impact and counted one motorist death and no injuries.
The rider was identified as Antonios Spyropoulos
Police identified the rider as Antonios Spyropoulos, 59, of Queens. QNS reported that police released his name weeks later after a delay at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner affected family notification.
The official person record identified the person who died as the driver and only occupant of the Yamaha.
Records describe a Yamaha and a Toyota taxi
The city crash record classified Spyropoulos’s vehicle as a 2020 Yamaha moped. News reports described him as riding a 2020 Yamaha XMAX 300 scooter or motorcycle.
The second vehicle was recorded as a 2023 Toyota taxi. Police described it to reporters as a yellow taxi driven by a 47-year-old man.
Lane use appears in both the police account and city record
Police said the cab driver was traveling east in the westbound lane on Northern Boulevard before the collision. The official crash record listed driver inexperience as a contributing factor, and the taxi entry also listed improper passing or lane usage.
Northern Boulevard has a long crash record
The official record placed the crash near 29-76 Northern Boulevard in Queens, and police accounts described the location as near 41st Avenue in Dutch Kills or Long Island City.
On Northern Boulevard in Queens, CrashCountNYC’s location context counted 3,399 crashes, 2,139 injuries, 137 serious injuries, and 11 deaths from 2022 through June 1, 2026.
The cab driver stayed as investigators continued their work
Police said Spyropoulos was thrown onto the roadway and suffered head and body trauma. EMS took him to NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the cab driver remained at the scene. QNS reported that the driver was not arrested, and both articles said the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad continued to investigate.