A group of New Yorkers mowed down by reckless e\u2011bikers will sue the Mamdani administration \u2014 accusing the mayor of letting the growing menace to pedestrians run wild.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit against Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration, expected to be filed Thursday, will target Hizzoner\u2019s March executive order that stopped enforcement of minor e-bike violations \u2014 a policy critics say has turned city streets into a Wild West where pedestrians and everyday cyclists take their life into their own hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo mayor has the power to suspend the laws the City Council and state Legislature passed to keep New Yorkers safe \u2013 yet that is exactly what this directive does, turning our sidewalks and crosswalks into a lawless free-for-all,\u201d said Jim Walden, chair of NYC Common Sense, which will file the suit alongside crash victims and City Councilman Frank Morano (R-State Island).<\/p>\n
The Department of Transportation\u2019s 72nd Street redesign calls for a protected two-way bike lane. Helayne Seidman for the NY Post<\/p>\n
That legal challenge lands as community members on the Upper West Side accuse a powerful pro\u2011bike, anti\u2011car nonprofit\u2014 Transportation Alternatives, backed by major delivery companies\u2014of overriding neighborhood concerns to drive a bike agenda that benefits Amazon and other corporate players more than local residents.<\/p>\n
Manhattan\u2019s Community Board 7 voted at a June 2 meeting to endorse the Department of Transportation\u2019s plan for a two\u2011way protected bike lane on West 72nd Street linking Central Park to the Hudson River Greenway \u2014 despite loud opposition from locals.<\/p>\n
Board member Jay Adolf argued the board was ignoring its own constituency in favor of Transportation Alternatives, whose supporters arrived early and filled the limited seating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our job to represent the people in our community and our community is overwhelmingly concerned about this proposal,\u201d he said, announcing he would vote against the resolution.<\/p>\n
About 80 people signed up to speak in favor of the redesign and around 60 against.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to me that a majority of the people who spoke in favor were either wearing T\u2011shirts that said \u2018Families for Safe Streets\u2019 or stickers in support of it,\u201d Adolf said, noting that Families for Safe Streets is a spin\u2011off of and still works closely with Transportation Alternatives.<\/p>\n
Transportation Alternatives has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from major delivery companies including Amazon, Uber, Lyft, Lime and UPS \u2014 firms that profit from fast, unimpeded e\u2011bike and e\u2011cargo trike delivery.<\/p>\n
A Community Board 7 board member accused non-profit Transportation Alternatives of stacking the audience with non-local supporters of a controversial bike lane. Manhattan Community Board 7 \/ X<\/p>\n
Community Board 7 resident Janet Schroeder, who leads the E\u2011Vehicle Safety Alliance and wants more enforcement of e-bikes, claimed Transportation Alternatives blasted out emails to mobilize supporters to show up early to the meeting.<\/p>\n
Transportation Alternatives denies doing anything improper.<\/p>\n
But the fight over 72nd Street<\/a> has brought into focus a wider backlash against dangerous e\u2011bikes and lax enforcement \u2014 as pedestrians argue walkers are left in the crosshairs as delivery companies expand bike operations into every corner of the city.<\/p>\n Opponents of bike lanes say they are not troubled by traditional bicycles but by high\u2011speed electric vehicles causing a spike in injuries, even though city figures show only about 10% of New Yorkers regularly bike.<\/p>\n An NYU Langone study published in April of more than 900 trauma patients at Bellevue Hospital found that \u201cmicromobility\u201d crashes grew from under 10% of bike and scooter trauma cases in 2018 to more than half by 2023 \u2014 and now account for nearly 7% of all trauma admissions.<\/p>\n The Upper West Side Community Board 7 passed a resolution in support of the New York City Department of Transportation\u2019s plan. Manhattan Community Board 7 \/ X<\/p>\n One\u2011third of patients suffered traumatic brain injuries, more than two\u2011thirds were admitted and about 30% needed intensive care.<\/p>\n Pedestrians struck by e\u2011bikes experienced brain injuries at almost double the rate of riders.<\/p>\n Pamela Manasse, who lives on the north side of 72nd Street and is among those backing more e-bike enforcement, said she was left paralyzed on her right side after an e\u2011vehicle crash.<\/p>\n \u201cProtected bike lanes protect no one when riders speed and go barreling the wrong way,\u201d Manasse said. \u201cThese are not bikes. These are motorized vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n But even as injuries mount, the Mamdani administration is reshaping bike infrastructure to accommodate faster and higher volumes of e\u2011bike traffic. The mayor picked Transportation Alternatives veterans for roles in his administration, appointing the group\u2019s former executive director Ben Furnas<\/a> to his transition and naming former public affairs official Elizabeth Adams as his \u201cfast and free bus\u201d adviser. <\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s administration has been sued after Hizzoner blocked enforcement of e-bike violations. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n City Hall announced it will double the width of a protected bike lane on Sixth Avenue between 14th and 31st Streets, saying wider lanes \u201callow faster riders, including e\u2011bike users.\u201d<\/p>\n