BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | Mayor Adams admits that New York City’s streets are out of control due to the bad behavior of too many e-bike and moped riders — and he plans to do something about it.
Basically, Hizzoner told The Village Sun, the current two-wheeled chaos is not how he wants his town to roll.
The newspaper got the mayor’s take on the e-bike bedlam at a year-end roundtable he held with the city’s ethnic and community media at City Hall on Dec. 22.
Each outlet got to ask Adams one question. The Village Sun queried him about “rogue riders” zipping every which way — one of New Yorkers’ top concerns citywide — and specifically if he supports Councilmember Robert Holden’s bill to require all e-bikes to sport license plates. Many of the e-bike collisions with pedestrians are hit and runs, and some form of licensing would help create accountability.
“Our use of the streets, that use has changed drastically, probably the last, I would say, three, four years,” Adams acknowledged of the micro-mobility boom. “Pre-COVID, they had a lot of food [deliveries], a lot of people get home deliveries, maybe people didn’t want to be on the subway system anymore. But the frequency now — they have changed remarkably,” he said, regarding the mushrooming of two-wheeled e-vehicles and mopeds plying the streets.
“We now have to catch up,” he admitted. “And every town hall we attend, that conversation comes up — e-bikes, mopeds, bikes — and I have the police commissioner and his team, I’ve spoken to Chief Maddrey. We have to, number one, come up with some real enforcement, without being heavy-handed and deter people [from] riding bikes. I ride a bike,” he noted, “I enjoy riding a bike.
“But we have to regain control of our streets,” he stated, bluntly. “Because you’re right — [riding] on the sidewalk, going up and down one-way streets — that becomes increasingly more dangerous and [is] some of the reckless driving that we are seeing.”
Yet, Adams claimed the city’s recently raising the minimum wage for app-based delivery workers to nearly $18 an hour, which will jump to $20 an hour in 2025, has already had a calming effect on the sometimes-speeding “deliveristas.”
“Some of that was app delivery services,” Adams said of who make up the scofflaw cyclists. “Now we no longer have to rush because of the successes we have had with raising their pay rate, and they no longer try to get as many deliveries as possible. And so we think we’re going to see some success there.”
Just two weeks earlier, though, members of the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance — who count dozens of seriously injured victims of e-bike and moped collisions among their ranks — rallied outside City Hall, demanding a vote on Holden’s bill before the year’s end. “We are the majority!” they chanted, insisting pedestrian safety must be the priority. The bill at one point had 34 sponsors out of the 51-member City Council, yet was never allowed to come up for a vote. Now Holden’s bill will have to be reintroduced this year and sponsors gathered all over again.
Instead, Adams said he supports a different bill, namely, Councilmember Gale Brewer’s “Commercial E-Bike Licensing Act.” Whereas Holden’s measure would require all e-bikes to be registered, Brewer’s would apply only to commercial e-bikes, which also would not have to have license plates. Instead, the delivery workers would have to sport “visible license information” — specifically, vests with ID numbers, according to Adams. In addition, under Brewer’s bill, the e-cyclists would not be held liable for breaking the rules of the road — instead, their employers, such as Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash, would be.
“There’s already a bill, I think Gale Brewer passed a bill — a law, I should say — where app delivery workers are supposed to wear vests with numbers on the back of them,” Adams said. “We’re looking at the implementation of that, meeting with the app delivery workers and the platforms and implementing that.
“Because, you’re right, there’s no way to identify someone when they do something incorrect.”
As for Holden’s bill, Adams confessed, “I have to dig into the Holden bill. I didn’t know Holden put in a new bill on [e-bike] licensing. I have to look at it and come up with a determination.”
Actually, Brewer’s legislation has not been voted on yet by the full City Council. Councilmember Carlina Rivera, whose district includes the East Village, recently told The Village Sun she plans to co-sponsor Brewer’s bill for commercial e-bikes and does not support Holden’s.
“I think that licensing all the bikes would be really hard,” she said of why she does not back the more sweeping bill.
Adams also noted that many of the newly arrived migrants are using e-bikes and mopeds.
“We’re seeing a real influx in increase in illegal uses from those who are working in the blackmarket,” he noted. “You know, when you have a large number of migrants, asylum seekers who are not able to work legally, people are going to work and they’re going to find a way, and many of them are using these mopeds and bikes to carry out their jobs.”
In short, the mayor said, “It is a perfect storm of scenarios that I believe is impacting our streets. And you have some bicyclists who are not following the rules they’re supposed to. They’re supposed to follow vehicle traffic laws.”
The Village Sun also asked him about the accusation that Transportation Alternatives, the cycling-advocacy nonprofit, wields undue influence at City Hall. Adams wryly shrugged that the group has protested against him in the past.
Gersh Kuntzman, the editor of Streetsblog, which generally supports TransAlt’s policy positions, said he and most advocates back the Brewer bill for commercial e-bikes.
“The main reason advocates don’t like Holden’s bill,” he said, “is because by requiring registration of electric bikes — even the ones that max at [only] 20 mph — you’d discourage e-bike adoption, which is a key to reducing pollution, road violence and congestion.”
Gersh is 100% incorrect that Citi Bikes max out at 20 mph. They can go much faster. Watch John Campo, professional NYC cyclist, speak about this on his victim testimony on http://www.nycevsa.com
And, Priscilla Loke was KILLED by one of these e-bikes that “max out at 20mph.” And the rider wasn’t even going 20 mph! So your point is mute. E-bikes weigh a hell of a lot more than a bicycle and they brake more slowly. Stop with the TA myths. The majority of New Yorkers know better now. The days of making up “facts” are over.
All E-bikes will be registered by the city or state in the next year. Both have bills for registration of all e-vehicles called Priscilla’s Law. It is absolute common sense and the majority of New Yorkers agree. Some of the most egregious riders are on e-Citi Bikes. We all see the truth in front of us every single day. Stop selling us a green sky. We have eyes! And if requiring plates on e-vehicles dissuade riders — good. Those are the riders that SHOULD be dissuaded. A bicycle is a good option. But everyone should follow the laws on bikes, e-bikes, mopeds, scooters and cars. After all, almost nobody on an e-bike was driving a car before. They were riding a bicycle or taking public transportation. Just stop the madness, the myths and the lies.
This is really unbelievable!!! My sister was hit by a Citi Bike rider in Sept 2023. He was going the wrong direction and ignoring lights. My sister was in the crosswalk with the “walk light.” He stopped for a minute, then took off before police came. Police were able to track him but the only thing that happened to him was a traffic citation. My sister was in the hospital for two months with severe traumatic brain injury. She has to move out of the city to live with relatives as she can no longer live on her own. She cannot go back to work in order to have income. She suffers from many issues that can happen with that kind of head injury. For all of her medical care, she has to to already use a large amount of money she put away for retirement, taking her grandkids on vacations and all those wonderful things at that point in life. She worries that she will literally run out of money, and she is only 59. The e-bike rider doesn’t have any accountability, Citi Bike has no accountability, even though they provide zero warnings about following safety laws, and they do not require any insurance. There is absolutely no incentive for these riders to do what they are supposed to, if basically nothing will happen to them if they don’t. The force he hit my sister with was horrific. The city does not find it important enough to have laws to prevent this, or at the very least, reduce the accidents to pedestrians by:
1. Making it a felony to hit and critically injury pedestrians, when it is proven the cyclist was in the wrong
2. Citibike must require riders to have some kind of insurance, or pay a fee or something at all really
My family will be filing a lawsuit against The City of New York for having no laws to prevent this from happening. If a person walked up to my sister and punched her, knocking her to the ground and critically injuring her, there would be penalties. In the city’s inaction on this they are being negligent of their duties.
Please watch this from the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance speaking for millions of terrorized NYers, pedestrians, elders, disabled & yes children hit(!) and then tell me the laughable pay raise for Deliverista’s (to say nothing of self-entitled CitiBike e-bike scofflaws!) is gonna’ prevent more of the life-changing harm wrought on pedestrians! This video is from an e-vehicle/moped crash victim Pamela Greitzer Manasse. Thank you, Pam, for sharing your story to make NYC streets safer — maybe Mayor Adams, Gale Brewer & others sucking up to Lobbying TransAlt and the predatory investor APP corporations running their profitable delivery racket will open the link for a reality check? Hmm?
Please note that the beautiful cello you hear at the start and the end of video is being played by Pam Manasse
https://youtu.be/POhI50HEweY?si=k1jrawWYbjBQhpYY
Well said, BrooklynSamdy. Thanks for sharing those videos. If only the Mayor’s office would wake up and do the right thing…
Here’s John Campo’s story-a video which says it all! A professional cyclist and NYC-EVSA member, he shares testimony of being hit by e vehicle while riding bicycle in NYC…watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaAlQ5oqBFA
Gale Brewer has truly (d)evolved into a criminal politician obeisant to her donors as much as the most compromised elected official in the history of NYC, Mayor Eric Adams. It’s clear Gale had help from “agents of the city” Transportation Alternatives, who are described as “partners,” to influence policies and legislation in City Hall for their donors Mark Gorton and the food delivery and car service apss. If Bill de Blasio went to prison for establishing this crooked pay-to-play system, these people wouldn’t exist.
Gale Brewer’s bill is a distraction, intended solely to derail Holden’s bill. Brewer wants delivery workers to wear identifying information — there’s already such a law, and the pedestrian deaths and injuries attest to its ineffectiveness. Brewer also wants to shield delivery workers from responsibility for their actions by making the “apps” liable. When an app pays a fine, will a delivery worker then decide that riding on the sidewalk and injuring pedestrians is not okay? Not in this world. Holden’s bill would make ALL ebike and escooter riders identifiable and force them to take responsibility for their negligence. Just like drivers of cars, trucks, and other motorized vehicles that pose a danger to children, seniors, and other pedestrians. This is not rocket science.
Another concern:
The upswing in teenagers using E-Citibike….
Not only do they ignore traffic rules and endanger pedestrians- but in the good weather it is not unusual to see teenagers doubled up, with friends sitting in the basket.
And of course no helmets.
Worth noting that it is pretty easy to get a DOE Metrocard – yet more HS students are using Citibike instead of bus or subway especially after school.
Write tickets. Impose fines. Collect fines. Issue court summons to those who ignore their tickets. Enforcement with meaningful punishment for bad behavior. Oh, and Mayor Adams is not familiar with Councilman Holden’s bill? We’ve been rallying at City Hall for months. Not doing your job, Mr Mayor. But collecting campaign dollars from the Trans Alt fanatics I’ll wager.
They managed to construct all these bike lanes. Why can’t they manage to regulate them? Walking around the city has become a dangerous nightmare. You can’t let your guard down for an instant.
He lies. He wants to derail legislation with teeth. He is a liar and a conman. He rejects separation of church and state and he spits on neighborhoods and communities and embraces developers and billionaires. Look what he is doing regarding dance clubs and bars in residential areas…..gentle
enforcement. What BS! He won’t enforce anything regarding e-bikes.
People need to remember. He has already shown us who he is. Let’s not forget it!
I understand the allure of e-bikes when one’s source of income is delivery. But they are especially dangerous because they are fast and silent. The problem is the riders most often feel indemnified from following the law. I’m in the camp of calling for strict enforcement. When the delivery bike industry realizes there’s a good chance they’ll be stopped (lost time means lost revenue) perhaps they’ll think twice about ignoring the rights and safety of pedestrians. (And perish the thought of losing their bikes because of rogue behavior!)
Paris, France, outlawed all ebikes and escooters. The same must happen here. Any laws that protect Citibike or any of the delivery apps must be rescinded. Anything less is blowhard politicians at it again.
Paris, France, is in the process of removing 40% of its free car parking spots and transforming them into bus lanes, bike lanes and pedestrianize streets, especially everywhere around schools
exactly
In my experience Citibike users (regular and e) and racing bicyclists are the most egregious in ignoring traffic rules and endangering pedestrians.
Citibike riders proactively go through red lights, go the wrong way, ignore bike lanes.
And curse pedestrians who object.
Like yesterday, Citibiker (ebike) doing above plus sipping his Starbucks with one hand – and nearly hitting an older man.
I feel sorry for the delivery workers and some of them do stop at lights. And they don’t curse pedestrians.
Everyone on a bicycle needs to follow traffic rules.
Better yet – able-bodied folks should walk, take bus or subway.
Get rid of bicycles.
There was never an environmental impact study done — resulting in the worst congestion in the nation. There was no genuine, sustained, cooperative effort to establish a responsible cycling community. Result::: daily danger on the streets and sidewalks — only increasing with the onslaught of other modes of menace. Vision Zero is aptly named. By opposing enforcement from the time Trans Alt had the ear of Mayor Bloomberg, Charles Komanoff and Mark Gorton, the Sophist in Chief and the Hedge fund Advocate of unpopular positions, have trafficked in zealotry and hubris. Displaying a reckless disregard for public safety and wallowing in their own self-righteous drive to surpass Robert Moses in infamy and undermine the NYPD. How the city
administrations have succumbed to this bludgeoning of the quality of life is a sad comment on the priorities and humanity of our Captains of Commerce.
Vision Zero has been IRRATIONAL from the jump. Although bike programs in Europe have their issues, New York’s version with different logistics of population density and street width, complemented by the egregious lack of enforcement, has created a public safety crisis.
**** Lying in the weeds is PlacemakingX, Fred Kent was its co-founder along with Komanoff of Trans Alt. His son Ethan now mans the helm. This is why TA has shifted its rallying cry from cycling being good for health and pollution to needing more public space. The privatization of public space. Said to be good for shopping and real estate.
JacDog:
Wow thank you for that info.
So many ironies and permanent damage to NYC…
For example, Dan Doctoroff, who also supported bicycling, has ALS and is reliant on vehicles.
Bloomberg of course has a huge carbon footprint….
There is permanent damage everywhere….
For example, if you’ve not been, see the chaos in Midtown on 8th, 9th and 10th Aves. with bike lane expansion, while at the same time there is more high-rise development, massive e-commerce traffic, etc., Port Authority and MTA buses cannot move. (The avenues look horrible too)
Another example….
Who would have ever thought the City would close streets – “Open Streets” – and force MTA bus diversion?
Who’d have ever thought the City would spend massive amounts promoting bike use — while the MTA is hemorrhaging and fares have soared and bus and subway service is cut…..
Yes. And Adams is clueless irresponsible and not truthful. He absolutely knows about Holdens bill, as does his staff, they have for MONTHS..The vests were already a law, what an imbecilic statement! Among other infractions.already on the books, you are supposed to wear a vest and helmet, have 2 lights and a bell. And not ride on sidewalks, not more than 20 in the street, bike lanes or park. He pushed his pilot program thru in a Facist manner. It’s disgusting. People’s concerns and voices are ignored.
His staff as well, incompetent. And Brewer is horrendous, as a Trans Alt supporter, and they support her, duh — follow the money, she’s biased. This makes me sick. People have been permanently injured and some killed, all because Adams and DOT Commissioner Rodriguez are lazy and have other intere$t$ …
Thank you, Village Sun, for the reporting. And thanks to all who wrote comments. Brewer’s proposal does not go far enough to protect pedestrians. This city needs to get behind Holden’s bill.
Really? As long as Brewer’s agendas is touted, regardless of the ignorance,
I guess that’s okay, huh?
What the devil is wrong with peddling with human power?! Citi Bike white pedal-assist bikes should be pulled. Too heavy, too fast, ridden by too many self-important party bros with too little sense!
Agree. And this article improperly cites Brewer’s motives. Please. Brewer is so lax and not behind what really will be effective. People have been critically injured amd killed. A Trans Alt benefactor, she FAILS to understand the real issues. She consistently takes blame off the delivery community, which is where half of the responsibility lies — it’s not just the Apps. It’s an ignorant argument supporting Los Deliveristas union, which does nothing useful for SAFETY that yields results. And Citi Bike riders need to be reined in. Where’s Brewer’s responsibility there? It’s completely an oversight favoring the white population.
Brewer’s fervent bike support is so weird as she is not young and her husband has medical issues — they cannot utilize bikes.
It is also bizarre and upsetting that Brewer supports “Open Streets” on avenues, which force bus diversion.
And Carlina has a baby — and she’s a regular Uber user…
Agreed Mayor is misinformed about the legislation surrounding our dangerous streets! Sadly the delivery bikes are only a smidgen of this problem. All E-vehicles should follow the laws! And these laws need to be enforced!
This is not a new problem for the Mayor. He has apologized in public to a woman who was hit by an e-vehicle, had a traumatic brain injury and is partially paralyzed. That’s a real problem as she was a professional cellist who can no longer play and has lost her income. Who pays for her injuries and lost income? The guy who hit her tried to run but was pinned down by the victim’s husband till the police came and did absolutely nothing. The e-vehicle rider rode off scot-free.
The Mayor has done nothing since he was informed by the victim of this incident at a public town hall. And it is not only deliveristas disobeying the law and injuring and killing people. Priscilla Loke was hit by an electric Citi Bike rider as she crossed with the light and he illegally went through it and crashed into her! She never left the hospital and died 3 days later. Nothing happened to the rider — other than having to pay a ticket for running a red light. Citi Bike says they have no liability.
The Mayor is disingenuous. He knows exactly who Trans Alt is and so does his Dept. of Transportation commissioner. Trans Alt is a lobby fighting for no regulation of e-vehicles. The idea that only commercial e-vehicles should be licensed is like saying only blue cars must be licensed and insured to drive in NYC. Stop the BS, Mr. Mayor, and instead of talking the talk, try walking the walk.
The Mayor and Ydnais Rodriguez have done absolutely 💯 nothing to protect the citizens of NY. I sat at his roundtable in the summer where he stated he would take action against rogue riders. He’s horribly inept and misinformed. And a disgrace to people who have been permanently injured in e-vehicle asaaults and to the family of those who have died. Disgusting. Trans Alt illegally lobbies under their 501c3 status, swaying politicians toward their crooked Mark Gorton agenda. It’s shameful, corrupt and Adams has been beyond irresponsible.
Absolutely 💯 correct! He knows. Nothing is a surprise. He’s not being truthful.
Lincoln, thanks for asking the Mayor about the lawlessness and dangerous streets and sidewalks of NYC and Bob Holden’s bill to regulate all ebikes (Int. 2022-0758). It’s ridiculous logic to target regulation of one type of ebike rider. What if only commercial vehicles (cars and trucks) were regulated? I bet a tally of surviving ebike hit-and-run victims would quickly reveal that not all irresponsible, liable ebike riders are deliveristas. I wonder what Gale & Carlina say to ebike hit-&-run victims who have to foot their own medical bills. I guess we, the residents, must pray that our NYS legislators go to Albany and pass comprehensive, progressive regulations and require insurance of ebikes to ensure streets and sidewalks are safe for all.
Agreed. Brewer and Carlina are not thinking in the safest direction and favor the Deliveristas over citizens of NYC. It’s actually disturbing and Trans Alt is behind filthy lobbying efforts AGAINST safety.
Today I observered a “Vespa”-like scooter exiting the elevator at the Broadway Lafayette station…it didn’t have a licensed plate or I would have reported it. He was a “delivery” rider. The City is not the City of Yes! It’s the City of Chaos..and I was here in the ’70s! The riders are on their phones, listening to loud music while running red lights and speeding on the sidewalk.
Write to your City Council member. And write to Gale Brewer district6@council.nyc.gov and Carlina Rivera District2@council.nyc.gov — the enemies of pedestrian safety.
Licensing would be really hard!!!! That is something a person says that has not been hit by one. Don’t worry, dear, you still have time…. If the law can’t enforce the law, then chaos ensues, so what I’m hearing is government has thrown up their hands and have no solution. The city Code law #40 that was amended to make e-bikes legal says they can go 20MPH — anyone with eyes can see they are going way, way faster than that, and on the bike path they are going as fast or faster than the traffic on the highway??? But still the lie continues. The bikes have to be governed to not go above 20MPH and the police have to ticket or confiscate if they don’t. If that happens, we don’t need licensing. But yes, you get it, licensing is much easier because the police will not enforce the speed limits and the city will not inspect the stores that sell these bikes to make sure they are governed. I’m not hearing anything about the E-skateboards E-uniwheels E-boogie boards, E-scooters, nothing — like they don’t exist. Well, I can tell you — I have the broken ribs to prove they do exist.
Right on, John Campo. Well said.
thank you Stephanie. I invite the Mayor to ride a bike with me and see what is happening to the city. People making the laws for E-bikes have never ridden a bike…
Do it! He won’t believe how horrendous and disquieted our NYC streets are now
The law actually provides that ebikes in NYC are allowed to go up to 25 MPH. It’s only in the rest of New York State that they are limited to 20 MPH. Either way, there’s no enforcement not because the police aren’t willing to do so if called upon but because the City Council prohibited them from confiscating bikes and Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez (the true enemy of pedestrian safety — witness the large rise in fatalities since he was appointed) cut off all enforcement mechanisms.
Good coverage. Thanks for this article.