Biking’s his life — but Bowery rider says e-bikes are making life hell

BY OTTO FRITTON | ​​As electric bikes have boomed in New York City, enforcement of traffic regulations against scofflaw riders has failed to keep pace.

Many locals complain about whizzing electric Citi Bikes and other e-micro-mobility vehicles rushing pell-mell on the city’s streets and even sidewalks and sometimes traveling in the wrong direction.

John Campo is a professional cyclist and former West Point championship-winning coach. He’s also known as the “Angel of Kissena Velodrome” for pushing for a 1963 bike-racing track in Queens that had fallen into disrepair to be renovated, which the Parks Department finally did in 2004.

A cycling historian, as well, he has collected photos of early, MacGyvered, gas-powered scooters from more than 100 years ago. According to Campo, at first, such scooters were restricted to use by the disabled and limited to a top speed of 15 miles per hour. But with the advent of e-bikes that speed limit has been eased to what we see on the streets today, with e-bikes legally allowed to go up to 20 to 25 miles per hour.

Despite being a bike enthusiast, Campo is also a harsh critic of what he sees as a current lack of enforcement against e-bikes. In his view, police consistently ignore e-vehicle users who flout the rules of the road, especially, e-Citi Bikers. He’s a member of NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance (EVSA), the city’s leading activist group calling for greater regulation of e-vehicles.

Legislation to license and register e-bikes is pending both in the state Legislature in Albany and in the New York City Council.

“Even if they get these laws passed, they’re not going to be enforced,” Campo scoffed. “They’re still going to be riding on the sidewalk. They’re still going to be killing people.”

Campo puts the blame on police and e-cyclists alike, saying both fail to uphold their responsibilities and ensure pedestrians’ safety. He pointed to the tragic death of beloved Chinatown preschool teacher Priscilla Loke, 69, who was fatally struck by an e-Citi Bike rider at Chrystie and Grand Streets last September. Responding police initially let the cyclist leave the scene without taking down his name and contact information. Cops were eventually able to track him down later — but, as first reported by The Village Sun, he was only penalized with a slap on the wrist, a ticket for running a red light.

Meanwhile, his wife, Michele Campo, a Bowery-area quality of life activist, has advocated for anti-idling and anti-honking laws for motor vehicles, which won approval, as well as advocated for preserving local historic buildings, among other things.

“You know, my wife and I, mostly my wife, has been an advocate for community safety, for saving buildings and she has passed things for no idling, which is a $500 fine,” Campo said. “My wife has actually gone to a policeman and said this person’s been idling for half an hour. The guy said, ‘I can’t give him a ticket.’ She said, ‘Why not?’ ‘I don’t know the code,’ he said. So my wife went and got the code and brought it to the precinct, and the police captain laughed. He said, ‘I really like that’ — but still, nobody gets the tickets.”

Campo said his coaching the West Point cadets cycling team to a national championship was a personal high point — but also that the team members exemplified the integrity he sees lacking on the streets, from cyclists and police alike.

“It was just amazing,” he reflected. “I mean, they were just average kids. They weren’t really superhumans, but there was this level of integrity that I just fell in love with. When I tell them to do something, they go, ‘Yes, sir.’ There’s integrity there. When they say they’re going to do something, they actually do it.”

Meanwhile, as electric bikes continue to flourish with minimal regulations, more people — Campo included — are being hit by them. He said he was biking on the West Side greenway in the 30s when he was rammed from behind by an e-biker, leaving him with bruised ribs.

Janet ​​Schroeder, an NYC-EVSA co-founder and steering committee member, stressed that electric bikes are not like regular bikes, but rather — due to their motors, increased weight and speed — should not be classified as bicycles but mopeds. This would require them to have a visible license plate, just like cars, that could be captured by street red-light and anti-speeding cameras, helping police identify and catch violators.

In a personal video testimony for NYC-EVSA, Campo extends an invitation to elected officials to see the issue from a civilian perspective.

“Anyone in city government, the state senator, the mayor, just ride with me on a bicycle and see what’s going on,” he says in the video. “People are making laws that have never been on a bicycle. Come out and see what’s happening out here, you know, and I wish that offer is taken up before some e-bike kills me, because biking’s my life, and I’m never gonna stop riding my bike.”