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Family visitations to resume at New Jersey immigration detention center following violent protests

May 31, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEWARK, N.J.) — Family visitation hours are set to resume on Sunday at the Delaney Hall Immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, following violent clashes between protesters and police that prompted arrests and a mandatory curfew around the facility, according to the state’s governor.

“DHS has met our demand to restore family visitation,” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced in a statement on Sunday morning. Visits had been interrupted by the ongoing protest over the alleged poor treatment of detainees at the hall.

“Starting today, limited visitation will resume at noon, and regular visitation hours will be restored beginning tomorrow,” Sherrill said on X, in part.

The governor advised families to contact the Delaney Hall facility for additional details, adding that law enforcement on the scene will help escort families into the facility.

“It is critical that outside actors allow this to happen safely,” Sherrill said at a news conference on Sunday.

“We did not cave to the governor’s demands,” a Department of Homeland Security official told ABC News on Sunday, adding that “visitation was suspended because the violent riots outside the facility made it unsafe for our officers, detainees’ families and lawyers to visit the facility.”

“With Delaney Hall secure, ICE operations continue as normal,” the official said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement on Sunday that he conducted an oversight visit to Delaney Hall that morning with New Jersey Reps. Rob Menendez, Josh Gottheimer, and LaMonica McIver.

“The conditions of confinement we witnessed firsthand and discussed with approximately two dozen detainees at the Delaney Hall detention center shock the conscience,” Jeffries said in his statement, in part. “Immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just and humane. The Trump administration is doing the exact opposite.”

Jeffries further said that during the oversight visit he and the others in other House members “learned of unsanitary living conditions, lack of adequate medical care and unhealthy food. This is not America.”

“Delaney Hall must be shut down immediately,” Jeffries’ statement said.

The Department of Homeland Security has previously denied the allegations, along with reports that detainees are staging a hunger strike in protest.

In a separate post Sunday morning, Sherrill said that overnight, masked individuals at Delaney Hall, attacked the barrier in the protected protest area outside of the facility and began “aggressive and dangerous actions” against Newark and New Jersey State Police, including “throwing projectiles, utilizing the barriers as weapons, and setting tires on fire in the street.”

“These actions put both peaceful protestors and law enforcement in danger,” Sherrill said. “The police were not in protective gear; they had been on location since early in the morning, ensuring protestors and counter protestors had areas to exercise their rights safely.”

“As these dangerous actions took place, additional support was needed to protect civilians and law enforcement,” Sherrill added.

At a press conference later Sunday morning at a State Police facility in Newark, Sherrill said three people were arrested as a result of Saturday night’s clashes with police, including one individual who was charged with illegal possession of a weapon.

The developments came after protests began outside the facility last week and some demonstrators clashed with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

In separate statements released on Friday, Mullin and Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said nine protesters had been arrested. Mullin alleged that some of those who were arrested “bit, kicked, and punched officers.”

In a statement on Saturday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka cited the “escalating situation” and “the increasing need for police intervention” in ordering the curfew for the half-mile around Delaney Hall, which began at 12 a.m. on Sunday and will remain in effect nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

A state police official said during Sunday’s press conference with Sherrill that law enforcement was working to secure the area around the facility and will reevaluate whether to allow protesters and the new media to get closer than a half-mile of the facility.

“Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat,” Baraka said in the statement.

Following days of protests, Sherrill ordered state police to establish a perimeter outside of the ICE detainment center.

At a press briefing on Saturday, Sherrill told reporters that six people were arrested on Friday night outside the facility, where tear gas was deployed and some officers on horses helped disperse the crowd.

The governor defended her decision to bring in state law enforcement to the scene.

She called on protesters, who have been challenging the allegedly poor conditions at the Newark detainment center, to “turn the temperature down,” and not give ICE a reason to “exacerbate the situation,” citing incidents in other cities such as Minneapolis.

“I refuse to let that happen in New Jersey. I will not give ICE a pretext to expand operations at Delaney Hall or across our state. I will not put lives at risk,” she said at a news conference.

During Saturday morning’s demonstrations, a handful of pro-ICE demonstrators gathered at the facility.

The pro-ICE crowd, which was dwarfed by the Delaney Hall protesters, arrived with signs, American flags and other paraphernalia supporting the federal agency and its immigration enforcement crackdown.

Activists and Democratic leaders have alleged that the 300 inmates inside the ICE facility are not being properly fed, not receiving medical care and are living in poorly maintained quarters.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has repeatedly condemned the protests.

“Anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Law and order will prevail,” he said in an X post Friday.

As police erected protest barriers on Friday night, ICE agents moved inside the building’s perimeter fence.

New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. David Sierotowicz told New York City ABC station WABC that ICE officers agreed to stand down with state police assuming responsibility.

However, tensions escalated between the protesters and state officers, some of whom were wearing riot gear and shields. Tear gas was deployed and protesters were pushed back.

Sherrill said some of the people arrested Friday night were from outside New Jersey and she alleged that outside agitators were in the crowds.

During Saturday’s demonstrations, men wearing clothing with the Proud Boys logo were seen in the pro-ICE protest group.

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement Saturday that most demonstrators complied with an order Friday night to let vehicles through, though she alleged a “limited number did not comply with repeated requests to clear a safe passage for the vehicles.”

Davenport further alleged that some protesters “took dangerous actions, including deploying fireworks and throwing gas canisters at law enforcement, that put everyone in harm’s way.”

The attorney general added that state police did not fire any rubber bullets or use batons during the Friday incident.

Some protesters decried the actions by the officers.

Rachel Cohen, one of the protesters who was at the site Friday, told WABC that she was worried that demonstrators were being silenced.

“It is not helpful to quell protest for the sake of a false peace,” she said. “There is no peace while we are torturing our neighbors on government dime inside this facility.”

The incident was the latest heated clash between Delaney Hall protesters and law enforcement.

Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey was tear-gassed on Monday as he tried to de-escalate the situation. DHS Secretary Mullin told reporters Wednesday that Kim “probably shouldn’t have been there.”

Robert Frazer, the U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey, said Saturday that Brendan John Geier, 26, of Madison, New Jersey, was charged with kicking a federal officer and biting two others during a confrontation at Delaney Hall Thursday.

Geier was released and prohibited from returning to Delaney Hall, according to Frazer. Attorney information for Geier was not immediately available.

While Kim and other Democratic leaders have visited the facility and said they saw the poor conditions firsthand, Sherrill said she has been denied access inside.

Sherrill urged protesters to remain peaceful and continue to speak out against the alleged conditions in the detention center.

She also continued her calls on the federal government to allow detainees’ families to have visitation rights and have state health inspectors conduct a full report.

“I’m going to work with federal delegation to get answers,” she said.

ABC News’ Jack Moore and Luke Barr contributed to this report.

Federal judge orders Trump’s name be removed from Kennedy Center, blocks closure

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge said Friday that President Donald Trump can’t close or rename the Kennedy Center, ruling that it cannot be officially named for anyone else unless Congress approves it.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the rebranding of the Kennedy Center as the “Trump Kennedy Center” violates the law, and ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the building within two weeks.

Cooper wrote that the administration “violated the Kennedy Center’s organic statute in purporting to rename the Center for President Trump, and in taking steps to effectuate that official renaming, such as installing signage with Donald J. Trump’s name on the front portico of the Center, altering the Center’s website to name the Center for President Trump, and in issuing official materials naming the Center for President Trump.”

Cooper also wrote “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

Congress created the famed cultural institution in a federal statute, designating it as a living memorial in 1964 shortly after President John F. Kennedy’s death.

Trump announced in December that the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees, which the president himself now chairs and filled with his hand-picked appointees, had voted “unanimously” to rename the building. Workers added signage with his name shortly after.

Trump also announced earlier this year that the Kennedy Center would be closed for two years starting in July for major renovations.

Cooper blasted the board for making an “ill-informed” and “seemingly preordained” decision to close the center.

“Finally, the Court is preliminarily persuaded that the Board’s March 16 vote to close the Kennedy Center pending a years-long renovation represents a dereliction of its common-law- derived duty of prudence,” Cooper wrote. “The current record reveals that the Board rendered this ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision without regard for how it would accomplish its full array of statutory responsibilities. The trustees might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways. This was not one.”

The changes are being challenged in court by Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who sits on the Kennedy Board of Trustees as one of its ex-officio members.
“Today’s ruling rightly affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename and close the Center have no basis in law,” Beatty said in a statement Friday. “The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity. I am proud to have fought for the rule of law and to protect this sacred institution.”

The Trump administration has defended the renovation as fulfilling the board’s “responsibilities to repair and improve the Center.”

The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling, according to sources familiar with the matter.

ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment on the ruling.

ABC News’ Peter Charalambous and Steven Portnoy contributed to this report.

Judge rules detained pregnant woman and son cannot spend another night at Dulles Airport

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge ordered on Friday that a pregnant woman and her 4-year-old son from Ghana cannot spend another night at a Washington, D.C.-area airport where they have been detained for more than a week.

Anabella Gyasi arrived at Dulles International Airport on May 19 with a valid tourist visa to bring her son to the United States for medical treatment, and she had been detained in a holding room by Customs and Border Protection since then, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer hailed the ruling, saying, “Today the court ordered in no uncertain terms that Ms. Gyasi and her son are not to spend another night in Dulles Airport.”

“Ms. Gyasi’s health and the viability of her pregnancy have both been endangered for more than a week as a result of the Trump administration’s dangerous and unlawful detention practices,” Bauer said, referring to the administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.

“While we’re relieved that Ms. Gyasi and her son will soon be free from this nightmare, no one should be subjected to the inhumane conditions they endured,” Bauer added.

Gyasi and her son were heading back to Ghana on Friday, a person familiar with the case told ABC News.

The ACLU filed a habeas petition for Gyasi and her son on Tuesday, alleging they are being detained “despite long-standing regulations and policies requiring that certain at-risk individuals, such as pregnant women and children, be released.” The petition also pointed to a court settlement that requires children to be transferred out of detention within 72 hours.

The 38-year-old mother first brought her son to the U.S. in 2024, when he was 2 years old, to see a specialist for physical abnormalities affecting both of his hands, according to the habeas petition. At that appointment, Gyasi was told her son was too young for corrective surgery.

Earlier this month, Gyasi scheduled a pre-operation appointment at a children’s hospital in Ohio and planned on traveling with the same tourist visa she had previously used, according to her lawyers.

A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to ABC News on Thursday that Gyasi was in CBP custody at Dulles and said she “will remain in custody pending her immigration hearing.”

The DHS spokesperson called the allegations about the conditions of her detention as “false.”

“Everyone in CBP custody, including this individual, has access to appropriate care, including medical evaluation by a doctor, medication, and food,” DHS said.

13-year-old, 7-year-old among 5 killed in massive crash on I-95 in Virginia: Police

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(STAFFORD COUNTY, Va.) — Five people were killed and 44 were injured in a massive crash between a bus and multiple vehicles on Interstate 95 in Virginia early Friday morning, according to state authorities.

The accident unfolded at about 2:35 a.m. on I-95 south in Stafford County, about 45 miles south of Washington, D.C., the Virginia State Police said.

As traffic slowed for a work zone, a bus did not slow down and struck a Chevrolet Suburban, police said.

The bus then hit other cars, while the Suburban was forced into an Acura SUV and other cars, police said.

The Acura caught fire, police said. Four of the five people killed were in the Acura: a 45-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, all from Greenfield, Massachusetts, police said.

The fifth victim killed, a 25-year-old woman, was in the Suburban, police said.

Forty-four people were taken to hospitals, including three with critical injuries, police said.

The bus — which was en route from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina –was carrying about 34 people, police said, noting that the bus driver, Jing S. Dong, 48, suffered injuries.

Charges are pending, police said.

The crash initially closed all lanes of I-95, Virginia’s Department of Transportation said, causing massive delays for the Friday commute. All lanes have since reopened.

1 of 4 fallen climbers rescued from Mount McKinley

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, Ala.) — One of the four climbers who fell while ascending Mount McKinley in Alaska has been rescued from the 17,200-foot basin, according to the National Park Service.

The search for the remaining three climbers, who also fell while climbing Mount McKinley at 18,200 feet, is now a recovery mission, the NPS said.

The NPS said it does not know the status of the rescued survivor.

“Due to terrain and conditions at the site, a high-altitude helicopter was unable to land and instead conducted the evacuation using a long-line extraction. The climber was transported to the Kahiltna Base Camp and then transferred to a LifeMed air ambulance for transport to a hospital,” the NPS said Friday.

Mount McKinley — located in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve — is the tallest peak in North America, according to the NPS.

The climbers, part of a seven-member climbing team, fell in the vicinity of Denali Pass, according to the NPS.

The NPS received a report of the incident at around midnight Thursday after two other climbers were evacuated by helicopter from the mountain at around 11 p.m. Wednesday, as part of a separate incident, the NPS said.

Three members of the climbing team returned to High Camp at 17,000 feet after attending to their fallen partners, the NPS said.

The NPS said it is actively responding to the incident. Weather conditions on the mountain are improving and will soon enable helicopter operations, the NPS said.

The extent of the climbers’ injuries and their condition remains unknown, the NPS said.

ICE agent charged in nonfatal Minneapolis shooting arrested in Texas

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged in the nonfatal shooting earlier this year of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis was arrested in Texas on Friday, more than a week after prosecutors announced the charges, officials in Minnesota said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Louisiana approves new congressional map that could allow Republicans to pick up a seat, eliminates 1 majority Black district

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(BATON ROUGE, La.) — Louisiana lawmakers on Friday approved a new congressional map that could allow Republicans to flip one of the state’s two Democratic-held House seats in the 2026 midterms.

The Louisiana Senate gave final approval to a bill with the new map after much dissent from Democrats.

“Y’all, at the beginning of this process, I would have said that we are building a house on a broken foundation. Now, it feels more like quicksand, because we’re in 2026 going into a map that we know is flawed, that we know is going to get struck down,” state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor.

State Sen. Jay Morris, a Republican, defended the map ahead of the final vote.

“I think we have a map here that meets all the traditional redistricting criteria. It’s not racially gerrymandered. … I think it broadly allows for representation for each region of the state, and it’s very fair, and we should approve it,” Morris said.

The new map comes weeks after U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s current map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

The landmark Supreme Court decision dealt a blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and set off a newfound scramble of mid-decade redistricting in Louisiana and other states that Democrats say could drastically reduce the number of Black representatives in Congress.

On Thursday, during hours of floor debate, several Democratic state representatives condemned the redrawn map, which eliminates one of the two majority-Black districts in the state, as discriminatory.

“I want to ask you to remember the argument that we should now be colorblind about a congressional map, in this state of all states, requires forgetting a quantity of history that I don’t believe any of us has the right to forget. Black people in this country were not citizens; not partial citizens, not second-class citizens. We weren’t citizens at all,” state Rep. Kyle Green, a Democrat and member of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, said on Thursday.

State Rep. Beau Beaullieu, a Republican who sponsored an amended version of the map that the state House approved, argued to members that legislators had been forced to redraw the map because of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“And now we find ourselves back with a similar map to the one this body passed in 2022, that had five Republican districts and one Democrat district,” he said on Thursday. “The map complies with traditional redistricting principles and also maximizes partisan advantage. The map is contiguous; it is compact; it binds communities of interest; it protects incumbency. … Race was not a factor when drawing these districts.”

Pam Bondi tells House Oversight panel that DOJ released all required Epstein files

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi told members of the House Oversight Committee Friday that the Justice Department had released all the documents required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but that she did not lead every aspect of the process, according to a copy of her prepared opening statement.

After a tumultuous year at the DOJ that was largely defined by her controversial handling of the Epstein files, Bondi participated in a nearly four-hour closed-door interview with the House Oversight panel Friday.

“As the head of a large Department with broad responsibilities, I did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself,” Bondi said, according to her prepared opening statement. “I delegated oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.”

Following her appearance, Bondi, in a social media post, disputed Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia’s claim that she “continues to push all of the investigation and the blame on Acting AG Todd Blanche.”

“NOT TRUE,” Bondi posted. “I praised Acting AG Blanche’s management of this Herculean task. I said his ethics are beyond reproach and that he is an incredible Attorney General.”

The second Trump cabinet official to testify behind closed doors as part of the Oversight Committee’s yearlong Epstein probe, Bondi was expected to face questions about reneging on her promise to publicly release the DOJ’s files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which ultimately prompted Congress to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act forcing the release of millions of documents.

As Bondi walked into the hearing room Friday morning, a group of Epstein survivors shouted, “Tell the truth.” She did not answer questions from reporters.

“Before we start today, I want to reiterate what I have said many times regarding the Department’s handling during my tenure as Attorney General of the voluminous materials that are now commonly known as the Epstein Files,” Bondi told the panel according to her prepared remarks. “To the best of my knowledge, the Department produced everything required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.”

“There were redaction errors,” the former attorney general said. “But since day one of this process, this Department has been committed to accountability and transparency.”

Trump removed Bondi as attorney general in April after sources said he grew frustrated with her handling of the Epstein files and the unsuccessful prosecutions of his perceived political opponents.

“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Trump wrote on social media announcing her departure. “We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”

Earlier this week, Axios reported that Trump had appointed Bondi to serve on an advisory panel on AI policy, tasked with coordinating cooperation between the government and tech leaders.

In an unusual arrangement, a DOJ spokesperson said that Bondi would be accompanied during Friday’s transcribed interview by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon and other DOJ personnel, in order to “assist the Committee in understanding the Department’s role in implementing and complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act during her tenure.”

“Because former Attorney General Bondi oversaw the Department at the time the Act was enacted and carried out, DOJ’s presence is solely to ensure accurate representation of Department processes, facilitate any necessary clarifications, and support a complete factual record for the Committee,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement earlier this week.

The DOJ originally sought to have Bondi avoid appearing by arguing that the subpoena the committee issued “no longer obligates her to appear” since she left the role of attorney general. Bondi ultimately agreed to testify voluntarily after the top Democrat on the committee introduced a resolution to hold her in contempt for failing to appear.

Shortly after beginning her tenure as attorney general last year, Bondi faced immediate pressure from Trump’s MAGA followers and others to begin releasing the DOJ’s files from its investigations of Epstein and his associates. Speaking to Fox News in February 2025, Bondi said Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review” and said the release of the files was a “directive by President Trump.”

However, when the DOJ released the “first phase” of the Epstein files that month — inviting, with great fanfare, conservative influencers to receive the files — it was determined that nearly every document released was already public. By July, the Department of Justice and FBI said in a joint memo that no further documents would be released, citing victim privacy and the assertion that the documents warranted no further investigations — a decision that sparked backlash from much of the MAGA base.

“To that end, while we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government’s possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,” the memo said.

Bondi later defended her statement about Epstein’s client list by clarifying she was referring to the Epstein files generally along with other files released by the Trump administration, including documents related to JFK and MLK Jr. The DOJ/FBI memo also said that their review of the files “revealed no incriminating ‘client list'” and no evidence that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals.

Despite the memo stating that no further investigation was warranted, Trump in November ordered Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to Bill Clinton and other prominent Democrats. At the time, Bondi said the DOJ would “pursue this with urgency and integrity” and assigned the matter to the U.S. attorney in Manhattan.

The Justice Department’s subsequent release of Epstein files following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act prompted bipartisan criticism when the DOJ improperly redacted files — both exposing victim identities while concealing other information — and declined to release millions of additional files by claiming they were duplicative, privileged or contained sensitive victim information.

Bondi’s deputy and successor, now-acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, acknowledged the release of sensitive victim information was “horrible” and “inexcusable.”

He said the DOJ is finished investigating Epstein.

“And so I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward,” Blanche said in April.

Amtrak fire suspends Penn Station service for NJ Transit commuters

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A fire erupted on Amtrak work trains in a Hudson River tunnel between New York and New Jersey early Friday, suspending Penn Station service for NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road commuters.

LIRR service has since resumed, but the NJ Transit suspension into Penn Station is ongoing.

Two Amtrak work trains collided in the Hudson River tunnel at about 1:25 a.m., impacting the electrical system and igniting a fire, said Janno Lieber, head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

One NJ Transit passenger called the experience “frightening,” telling ABC News, “Someone yelled there was a fire on the track … there was a very loud explosion that shook the train and caused the lights to go out. We didn’t move for maybe 8 to 10 minutes.”

“I rely on NJ Transit to get to work, so I am now deeply concerned about how I will commute safely moving forward,” the New Jersey resident said.

Amtrak service is also impacted. Amtrak said trains south of Penn Station are suspended until at least noon while “lengthy delays” are expected north of Penn Station.

2 dead after e-scooter crashes into bike on New York City bridge

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Two people died in a collision between a rider on an electronic scooter and another on a bike on the bike path during the morning commute on a New York City bridge on Thursday.

Francis del Valle, 39, who was operating the scooter, and Dmytro Stechenko, 35, who was on a pedal bike, were heading in opposite directions on the Queensboro Bridge around 8:20 a.m. when they collided, according to police.

Both victims were rushed to New York Presbyterian-Queens, where they were pronounced dead.

Del Valle was driving the Blade GT II scooter, according to investigators, which sells for $1,700 and is advertised to go “zero to 53 [miles per hour] in 3.9 seconds.”

The electric stand-up scooter is illegal to operate on New York City streets because it can reach speeds of more than 50 miles per hour, in excess of what the city allows for e-mobility devices.

Following the incident, it appeared the NYPD was directing bicyclists to use the south outer roadway, according to investigators. That part of the bridge has been pedestrian-only since the bridge’s lanes were reallocated in May 2025.

The north outer roadway used to be shared by cyclists and pedestrians, but that was becoming too crowded and dangerous. Two dozen people were injured there between 2021 and 2025.

Rachel Huynh, a friend of del Valle, told WABC that he left behind a wife and two children.

“His wife is in bad shape, especially with the kids. I can’t imagine. He was a really great husband to her, and they’ve been going out to vacations, exploring the whole world,” she told WABC.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that the city is reviewing the crash and reiterated that fast e-scooters are illegal in the city.

“Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe, and the Mamdani administration will continue to work to remove these illegal devices from our streets and bring accountability to micromobility use,” the spokeswoman said.

Transportation safety groups also echoed the mayor’s office’s warning.

“Our thoughts are with their families, friends, and community. Crashes like these are entirely preventable. Scooters that travel this quickly have no place in our bike lanes,” Ben Furnas, the executive director of the non-profit Transportation Alternatives, said in a statement.

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