City of New York found liable for ambulance hit-and-run of trans cyclist

A woman who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in New York City a decade ago has finally received a major breakthrough in her case, according to a report by amNY. On July 1, after a 10-year legal battle, a Brooklyn appellate court ruled that the city was liable for an ambulance collision that left her with debilitating injuries.

In 2016, Aeliana Boyer, a transgender woman, was riding her bicycle through the intersection of Bond and Union Streets in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn when an ambulance suddenly drove through the intersection and struck her. Rather than stop to assist her, the ambulance just drove off.

Witnesses corroborated much of Boyer’s account of the event, including that the light was green for her and that the vehicle appeared to be a red and white FDNY ambulance. She sustained multiple serious injuries from the accident, some allegedly causing permanent damage, including a concussion, torn knee ligaments, chronic nerve damage and pain, and spine and shoulder injuries that required surgery.

These injuries reportedly left Boyer unable to work for several years, resulting in serious financial issues – and as statistics consistently show, maintaining a steady income is already an enormous challenge for many transgender people. According to data from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, the majority of trans workers (82%) have experienced discrimination or harassment at work – which includes being fired, not hired, not promoted, or being subjected to verbal, physical, or sexual harassment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Aeliana Boyer stands at the intersection where the hit-and-run accident occurred.Kevin C. Downs for NY Daily News

The city officials initially denied that the vehicle that struck Boyer was an FDNY ambulance when she filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and the Fire Department after the accident. In order to seek damages, Boyer had to prove that the vehicle was indeed an official city ambulance.

The case eventually went to trial in 2024, and a jury unanimously found that an FDNY vehicle was at fault for the accident based on GPS data. But Boyer’s victory was to be short-lived. Soon after the trial, a Kings County Supreme Court judge overruled the jury’s verdict, citing Boyer had not sufficiently proved it was a city ambulance and dismissed the case.

“There is no question of fact that a collision occurred between an ambulance and the plaintiff bicyclist,” noted Justice Richard Montelione in a court document, and acknowledged that “the GPS evidence clearly places an FDNY ambulance at the approximate time and place where the accident occurred.” Despite this evidence, Montelione cited a discrepancy in Boyer’s description of the genders of the ambulance’s crew members as reasoning for the ruling.

Boyer had testified that the ambulance that struck her appeared to carry two female crew members; however, the vehicle that was linked to the scene of the accident via GPS tracking had male staff. Montelione also noted that Boyer stated that she did not distinctly remember seeing the FDNY insignia, creating reasonable doubt that it may not have been a city vehicle.

An FDNY ambulanceKarolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock

While Montelione is openly gay, many still questioned whether anti-trans bias might have played a role in the decision, since he seemed especially fixated on the discrepancy of the crew’s gender descriptions. But Boyer’s supporters argued that the dismissal was unreasonable, considering she’d just been seriously injured and the vehicle had quickly fled the scene. (Boyer had also previously told the Daily News that she was mistreated based on her gender identity by other emergency responders who later showed up to treat her.)

And now, a full decade after the incident, Boyer sees a possible light at the end of the tunnel since the appellate court reinstated the jury’s original verdict last week. Now that the city has officially been ruled as liable for the accident, she can finally seek damages.

“[Boyer] is entitled to the presumption that the jury credited her testimony, as well as that of another witness identifying the red and white ambulance as an FDNY ambulance, notwithstanding the discrepancy in the plaintiff’s description of the ambulance’s driver and passenger,” the court panel stated.

After this latest ruling, Boyer, who continues to struggle with basic living expenses and medical costs related to the accident, offered her “sincerest thanks” to supporters on a GoFundMe page created for her.

“Unfortunately, the fight isn’t fully over,” wrote supporter Jacqueline Mary on the page. “Winning the liability trial now affords her the right to sue the city for damages. She is now preparing for her next trial with the city.”