(TNS) \u2014 City Council Speaker Julie Menin said Tuesday that city lawmakers will hold a hearing next month to consider a slew of new legislation aimed at improving e-bike safety in the five boroughs.<\/p>\n
The hearing \u2014 which Menin said will also focus on the enforcement, or lack thereof, of current e-bike laws \u2014 comes a week after Gabriel Nacato, a 17-year-old\u00a0 Brooklyn \u00a0boy, was killed<\/a> when his high-speed e-bike crashed with an SUV in Lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n \u201cJust last week, a few hundred steps away, a tragic, tragic incident occurred,\u201d Menin said Tuesday from the steps of City Hall. \u201c(Nacato) was riding an e-bike gifted by his uncle, who wanted him to easily commute between his home in Brooklyn and his school and work in Manhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n As previously reported by the Daily News, the bike Nacato was riding was illegal in New York City, with a powerful motor capable of pushing the bike\u2019s speed past 30 mph.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years we\u2019ve seen the close calls and heartbreaking collisions,\u201d Menin said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe owe New Yorkers streets that are safer to walk, safer to bike, safer to drive,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we at the City Council are launching a comprehensive legislative review of e-bike and e-scooter safety.\u201d<\/p>\n A Sept. 30 hearing has been scheduled on \u201cover 17\u201d bills, Menin said.<\/p>\n The long list of proposed laws intends to address the question of e-bike safety from multiple angles.<\/p>\n Among them, a bill proposed by Council Member\u00a0Crystal Hudson\u00a0(D-Brooklyn)<\/a> would make the sale of so-called Class-3 e-bikes illegal in the five boroughs, essentially outlawing any e-bikes capable of speeds above 20 mph.<\/p>\n Another, put forth by Lynn Schulman (D-Queens) would require third-party delivery companies to be licensed<\/a> by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, giving the city additional oversight into food-delivery apps and other companies reliant on e-bike-based delivery workers.<\/p>\n Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Queens) is sponsoring multiple bills, including one that would establish a task force<\/a> to study better street design, and one that would require the NYPD to be more transparent<\/a> regarding its traffic enforcement efforts.<\/p>\n Manhattan Democrat Gale Brewer is championing an effort to explicitly include e-bikes<\/a> in state laws against leaving the scene of a collision, and also pushing the state to require registration of e-bikes used for commercial purposes.<\/p>\n Mayor Mamdani, when asked about the City Council\u2019s proposals at a press conference in the Bronx, replied that he hadn\u2019t seen all the details yet.<\/p>\n The mayor said he\u2019s spoken with the mother of Gabriel Nacato, the young man who was killed by City Hall last week.<\/p>\n \u201cMy just heart just breaks for her and for all the families who\u2019ve had their children stolen from them,\u201d Mamdani said, adding that the bike the teen was riding \u201cshould never have been on our streets.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor said he\u2019s looking to \u201censure that no consumer is duped into believing that that is an appropriate way to be moving around this city.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard for New Yorkers to keep up with what is legal or illegal if they\u2019re able to buy it online,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n As previously reported by the Daily News, e-bike fatalities have routinely outpaced those on traditional bicycles.<\/p>\n Twelve people have been killed while riding e-bikes in Gotham this year. Three have died while riding traditional pedal-powered bicycles. Nine people have died atop stand-up e-scooters.<\/p>\n Four cyclists died atop traditional pedal-powered bicycles in all of 2025, while 17 cyclists were killed that year riding e-bikes. Six people died last year on e-scooters.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the city Department of Transportation said that, between 2017 and 2025, 45 riders were killed while on e-bikes capable of going more than 25 mph \u2014 accounting for 54% of all e-bike rider deaths in that time period.<\/p>\n Similarly, 14 stand-up e-scooter riders died between 2017 and 2025 while riding devices capable of speeds in excess of 20 mph \u2014 52% of the e-scooter deaths in those years.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s fatalities on e-bikes and e-scooters do not appear to have gone down despite a citywide 15-mph speed limit on e-bikes and e-scooters<\/a> that went into effect last October.<\/p>\n The NYPD did not immediately respond Tuesday when asked how many summonses have been issued for violating that speed limit this year.<\/p>\n Menin said the NYPD, the DOT and the DCWP will all be expected to testify at September\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an enforcement hearing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Council speaker acknowledged there are already a slew of laws governing e-bikes on city streets.<\/p>\n \u201cBut are those laws working? Are they being enforced?\u201d she asked. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re acting.\u201d<\/p>\n With\u00a0Josephine Stratman<\/p>\n