The victim who was fatally stabbed and had his e-bike stolen in Manhattan's Chinatown early Saturday morning was reportedly a food delivery worker on the job.
Police say the 51-year-old man was found cuts to his face and a stab wound to his abdomen on Hester Street near Chrystie Street at around 1:05 a.m. According to WABC-TV, the unidentified victim was on his way to a food delivery when he was attacked. Video footage shows police cordoned off the scene, with detectives behind yellow tape inside Sara D. Roosevelt Park. A Grubhub bag and a helmet can be seen near the police tape. The victim had reportedly flagged down a Parks Department employee for help.
The victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and was later pronounced dead. So far the police have no suspects.
An email to Grubhub was not immediately returned.
Delivery workers have been the victims of violence while on the job in separate incidents. In Queens, Xing Long Lin, was on his scooter when he was run over by a driver who then slammed into a restaurant's outdoor dining setup on April 30th. No charges have been brought against the driver. Earlier that same month, Francisco Villalva was fatally shot inside a playground in East Harlem while on the job. Villalva had been approached by a man at gunpoint and demanded to give up his bike. In all three cases, the deliverymen were on the job.
E-bikes are known to cost as high as $2,000, which are costly to delivery workers who earn little pay. Last month, the New York City Council passed a sweeping bill package aimed at improving working condition for delivery workers. They included setting minimum payments per trip for delivery workers, how far they can go to deliver food, and mandatory access to restaurant bathrooms.
