Lyft Driver Found Dead In Queens Amid String Of Suicides

QUEENS, NY — Police found a Lyft driver dead in Queens early Saturday morning in what advocates called the latest in a string of professional driver suicides.

Cops found the 49-year-old man unconscious in the back of a Hyundai sedan around 4 a.m. Saturday near Myrtle Avenue and 75th Street in Glendale, the NYPD said. Police say he was pronounced dead at the scene, which is right in front of the Mount Lebanon Cemetery.

Police have not identified the man, but a Taxi and Limousine Commission spokesman said his vehicle was affiliated with a base operated by Lyft. The driver had had a TLC license since November 2014, according to the spokesman.

The man's death may mark the ninth suicide by a professional driver in about 16 months amid great tumult in the taxi industry. The driver wrote to relatives by email before his death "to say he was sorry," sources told the New York Daily News.

"We are devastated to learn of the death of this professional driver and we extend our deep condolences to his family, friends, and his brother and sister drivers," Acting TLC Commissioner Bill Heinzen said in a statement. "There is no reason to ever go it alone when you are overwhelmed."

Eight professional drivers have taken their own lives since November 2017, some of them under the weight of huge debt. The last was Roy Kim, who died by hanging in Bayside on Nov. 5.

The Lyft driver's death came as the ride-hailing company challenges the city's landmark minimum-pay rules for app-based drivers in court. A judge last week denied Lyft's request to halt the implementation of the rules, though a decision has yet to be issued in the case.

The Independent Drivers Guild, a labor group for app drivers, called on Lyft to drop its lawsuit after news of the death broke.

"App companies are making investors rich by holding down wages to the point where drivers are killing themselves," the guild said in a statement Sunday. "Even now as Lyft prepares to go public with a $23 billion valuation, the company is in court fighting minimum wage for drivers. It is shameful and it must be stopped."

Lyft has said it supports the goal of establishing minimum earnings but the company argues the TLC's rules harm drivers and smaller ride-hailing companies.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragedy, and extend our sincerest sympathies to the family and friends of the victim," Lyft spokeswoman Campbell Matthews said in a statement.

The TLC says many of its employees have been trained to recognize people in distress. The commission's External Affairs Unit also has discussions about mental health support on visits to bases, faith centers and other places, the TLC said.

Anyone struggling with mental health can get help by calling National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visiting this website. New Yorkers can also find resources by calling 1-888-NYC-WELL.