Teen cyclist killed in Queens amid rash of NYC bike deaths

A 14-year-old cyclist was struck and killed by a private sanitation truck in Queens on Saturday — bringing the number of accidental bike deaths this year to 21 — more than double the number killed in 2018, authorities said.

Mario Valenzuela, of Astoria, was struck by the Limited Interior Group truck around 1:55 p.m. near a railroad crossing at Borden Avenue and 11th Street in Long Island City, cops said.

The teen was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 33-year-old driver, wearing a Teamsters Local 813 T-shirt — the union representing private sanitation truck drivers — was crying and visibly shaken as he spoke to cops following the crash. He was not immediately charged, police said.

He was led him away from the scene and declined to speak with reporters.

The boy’s bike was still lodged in the rear driver’s side wheel as cops investigated the crash Saturday afternoon.

Limited Interior Group could not be immediately reached.

Bicycling advocates blamed this year’s death on the lack of protected bike lanes.

“Mario did not have to die,” Transportation Alternatives Deputy Director Ellen McDermott said in a statement Saturday night.

“Like so many of the 21 other cyclists dead this year, Mario was killed on a street with no protected bike lane. Without a network of protected bike lanes New York cyclists will continue to suffer preventable deaths.”

The statement also noted that the bicycle should have had the right of way.

“Large trucks have caused more than half of the cyclist deaths this year,” the statement said.