Nearly a year after Manhattan philanthropist Geoffrey Radbill died following a crash while riding his bicycle along Riverside Drive, police have made an arrest. Lesnier Ortega Varona, 38, was taken into custody and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian, according to police.
Radbill, 78, was struck from behind while cycling on Riverside Drive in Washington Heights, according to police-attributed reporting from Streetsblog New York City. He suffered severe injuries and was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he later died, according to the New York Daily News. The Daily News reported that Radbill resided on the Upper West Side and was riding along Riverside Drive when he was struck by a silver 2021 Toyota sedan.
There are conflicting details in the public record about the vehicle involved and the driver's age. Streetsblog's earlier report, citing police, described the vehicle as a silver Toyota minivan driven by a 37-year-old man, while the Daily News identifies the man arrested, Ortega Varona, as 38. Neither account has been reconciled, and this article presents both versions rather than choosing between them.
Driver Remained at Scene as Investigation Continued
At the time of the crash, the driver stayed at the scene and had not been charged, the same Streetsblog report noted, while the NYPD investigation was ongoing. The outlet reported the crash happened around 9 a.m. on a stretch of Riverside Drive between 158th and 160th streets. Charges against Ortega Varona were ultimately brought by the NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad, according to police.
Radbill was described by the Daily News as a prominent Manhattan philanthropist and a successful financier. He built his career at AXA-Equitable, the financial services firm, according to Streetsblog, and retired from the company in 2004 after 36 years, per Bowling Green State University's own biography of him as cited in Streetsblog's reporting.
A Legacy of Giving to Education and Health Causes
Radbill was a major donor to Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and a renovated portion of the university's Mathematical Sciences Building was named in his honor in 2023, Streetsblog reported. He also supported the National Multiple Sclerosis Society as a major fundraiser and gave to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, according to the Daily News.
The stretch of roadway where Radbill was riding has a documented crash history. Streetsblog reported that there had been 11 reported crashes at that Riverside Drive intersection since January 2020, injuring one pedestrian and two cyclists. Citywide, the outlet noted that year's figures showed 79,188 reported collisions on New York City streets, injuring 5,188 cyclists and 8,330 pedestrians.
Citywide Traffic Safety Numbers Show Mixed Picture
City data released by the New York City Department of Transportation showed some broader improvement even as individual tragedies like Radbill's continued to occur. There were 205 recorded traffic deaths in 2025, a 19 percent decline from 253 fatalities the previous year, according to the agency. The department also said traffic deaths had fallen 31 percent since the city launched its Vision Zero initiative in 2014.
The department separately reported that, earlier in 2025, three cyclists riding traditional non-electric bicycles had been killed citywide, which it described as a record low. Those figures were framed by the department as markers of progress, even as cyclist deaths like Radbill's continue to draw scrutiny to specific intersections and roadways across the city.
Cyclist fatalities have continued to make headlines elsewhere in Manhattan. A dump truck struck and killed a cyclist on West 34th Street near Macy's in Midtown, according to ABC7 New York, which reported that police stopped the driver and impounded the truck in that incident.
