Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A chain-reaction crash involving a coach bus killed two people and injured more than 20 others on the Long Island Expressway near Greenpoint Avenue, Exit 16, in Maspeth, Queens, at 11:45 p.m. Monday, according to Newsday. The collision triggered a multi-vehicle pileup that sent the bus hurtling over the highway’s center median and into oncoming eastbound traffic, authorities said.
The NYPD’s preliminary investigation revealed a sequence of events that began on the westbound LIE, according to Newsday. The coach bus first collided with a second vehicle, which then struck a third vehicle. The force of that chain reaction drove the bus into the center median, causing it to flip over the divider and land in the eastbound lanes. Once in the eastbound lanes, the bus collided with two additional vehicles, bringing the total number of vehicles involved in the crash to five.
Both the bus driver and a passenger aboard the coach bus were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Their identities had not been released as of early Tuesday morning, and it remained unclear how many passengers were on the bus at the time of the crash — or how many additional passengers may have been riding in any of the other vehicles involved, per Newsday.
Three of the injured were listed in critical condition. Police specifically noted that the driver of the fifth vehicle struck in the collision — one of the two eastbound cars hit after the bus crossed the median — was transported to a hospital in critical condition. Two additional victims were also listed as critical. In total, more than 20 people were reported injured across all five vehicles involved in the crash.
The NYPD confirmed the LIE remained closed in both the eastbound and westbound directions near Exit 16 as of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday for ongoing police investigation. Authorities stated the road would remain shut in both directions until at least 10 a.m. The full bilateral closure — affecting both the westbound lanes where the crash originated and the eastbound lanes into which the bus ultimately came to rest — created what officials described as a massive morning commuting disruption.
Location & Road Context
The crash took place on the Long Island Expressway (I-495) near Greenpoint Avenue, Exit 16, in the Maspeth neighborhood of Queens. This stretch of the LIE is one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the New York metropolitan area, serving as the primary surface connection between the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and points east all the way to Riverhead on Long Island. A full closure of both directions at this location effectively cuts off a critical commuter artery during peak morning travel hours.
The LIE has accumulated 1,368 recorded incidents in the Long Island Traffic database — a testament to the highway’s volume and the dangers inherent to its high-speed, high-density traffic. Just in the days surrounding this crash, the expressway saw multiple serious incidents, including a crash investigation involving an overturned tractor-trailer on I-495 and several other critical-severity crashes documented on June 30, 2026, alone. The Maspeth corridor near Exit 16 sits at a particularly dangerous juncture where high traffic volumes, the transition between tunnel-approach and open highway conditions, and the proximity of the median barrier all compound collision risk.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
As of Tuesday morning, the NYPD had not announced any charges or arrests in connection with the crash. The investigation remained active and ongoing, with both directions of the LIE closed to allow investigators to process the scene. Police described their findings as a “preliminary investigation” only, indicating the full sequence of events — including what initially caused the westbound coach bus to strike the second vehicle — had not yet been definitively determined, according to Newsday.
The identities of the two deceased victims — the bus driver and a passenger — had not been released pending official notification of next of kin. The number of total passengers aboard the coach bus at the time of the crash also remained unconfirmed, a detail police said was still being established. Investigators were also working to account for all occupants across the five vehicles involved in the collision.
Broader Impact
Coach bus crashes involving multiple vehicles and a median breach are among the most complex and catastrophic collision types encountered on limited-access highways. When a large vehicle like a coach bus crosses a divided highway median — particularly at speed during a chain-reaction impact — the consequences are routinely severe, as the bus can strike oncoming traffic at a combined closing speed far exceeding any single-direction collision. The full closure of both the eastbound and westbound LIE near one of its busiest approach corridors to New York City, sustained through at least 10 a.m. on a Tuesday commuting morning, reflects both the physical scale of the crash scene and the complexity of the multi-vehicle investigation that followed. Commuters traveling to and from the Queens-Midtown Tunnel were urged to seek alternate routes while the investigation remained ongoing.