A vigil for Xing Long Lin (pictured), who was killed by a driver in Astoria, will be held on the one-year anniversary of his death Friday (GoFundMe)
April 26, 2022 by Allie Griffin
A group of Astoria residents and transportation advocates are hosting a candlelight vigil Friday on the one-year anniversary of the death of Elmhurst delivery worker Xing Long Lin.
Lin, a 37-year-old Chinese immigrant, husband and father of two, was killed by a driver who plowed into him as well as an outdoor dining setup in Astoria on April 29, 2020. He was driving his scooter along 35th Street to make deliveries for an area restaurant at the time of his death.
Local residents and transportation safety advocates will meet at the site of the crash, on 35th Street at Ditmars Boulevard, at 6 p.m. Friday to honor Lin’s memory.
They also plan to call for justice for Lin, according to an email announcing the vigil.
Advocates said the 60-year-old woman who fatally struck Lin with her car was driving “recklessly” at the time of the crash and should be held accountable for his death.
Initial police reports stated that the woman was allegedly speeding down 35th Street in her 2013 Mercedes Benz C-300 when she careened into the bike lane where she fatally struck Lin. Her car then continued going, hit two parked cars and slammed into an outdoor dining set-up outside Rosatoro Restaurant, where it finally came to a rest.
The outdoor seating area where the crash took place on Ditmars Boulevard and 35th Street in Astoria. (Photo: Christina Santucci)
The vigil organizers will demand Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz — who decided against criminally charging the driver in November — to reopen the case against her.
Katz’s office said it had found “insufficient evidence” to prosecute the woman, according to a memo the office released on Nov. 15.
Both the DA and the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad conducted several-month-long investigations and said they found no proof of criminal intent or behavior leading up to the crash, the memo states.
Their investigations found that the woman’s car was struck from behind by another vehicle on 35th Street before she accelerated and crashed into Lin, the parked cars and the outdoor dining structure.
The District Attorney’s office said that the crash may have been caused by a car malfunction or the woman making an error.
Advocates criticized Katz’s decision at the time and will once again call for accountability at the vigil Friday.
