New Yorkers left with lifelong injuries from e-bike crashes blasted the city for having more compassion for the reckless speedsters zipping through traffic than the dozens of New Yorkers they have killed and injured.<\/p>\n
The City Council is considering a slew of bills would tighten enforcement on the high-powered scooters, but Mamdani administration officials argued at a hearing Wednesday those laws could unfairly target food delivery riders they bizarrely dubbed \u201cdeliveristas\u201d \u2014 \u201cmany of whom are immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n
But pedestrians who were flattened by riders said the city was forgetting who\u2019s responsible for turning bike lanes and city streets into a dangerous, high-speed free-for-all.<\/p>\n
Demonstrators attend a rally on the steps of New York City Hall calling for e-bike safety enforcement. Haley Brown\/NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cFor some reason, it\u2019s more important for someone\u2019s chicken sandwich to be delivered than anyone\u2019s life,\u201d fumed Carrie Michaels, who was injured by e-bike drivers in two separate crashes.<\/p>\n
The City Council grilled the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, NYPD and Department of Transportation on shockingly lax policies for the e-bikes, and considered a package of bills that could combat the devastation sparked by devil-may-care riders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe share the council\u2019s goal to rid our streets of unsafe micromobility devices,\u201d\u00a0DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cHowever, we have strong concerns of unintended consequences that would most heavily impact delivery workers, many of whom are immigrants with limited English proficiency and other vulnerabilities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Levine passed the blame for a string of crashes off the drivers themselves and onto \u201cunrealistic\u201d demands delivery app employers place on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot underscore enough that at the end of the day all the training in the world will not be sufficient if a worker goes out on the street and feels that they\u2019re gonna lose their job if they don\u2019t hit these unrealistic times that the delivery apps are insisting on,\u201d Levine said.<\/p>\n
Council member Crystal Hudson, a member of the\u00a0progressive caucus, shared a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a governing body, we have a responsibility to make our streets safer\u00a0but,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cPerhaps more importantly, we have a responsibility to protect the workers who use those streets every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel Nacato, 17, died after his e-bike collided with an SUV near City Hall on July 29, police said. William Farrington for The NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cI worry that some of the rhetoric around this package risks putting the blame on deliveristas when they are often the ones facing the greatest risks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest of the council was split on the issue, with Republican Councilmember Vicki Paladino ripping the city for allowing the \u201cbike industry\u201d to use \u201cCentral Park as some sort of Tour de France.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the city already has rules to keep delivery companies from forcing unrealistic delivery times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Levine\u2019s agency is supposed to enforce that rule beginning in January, but he also seemed concerned with delivery drivers being \u201cdeactivated\u201d by the apps\u00a0when he was asked about how to stop delivery companies from pressuring workers into illegal routes and speeding.<\/p>\n
An e-bike struck jogger Jean Celano, 43, in Central Park on July 7, leaving her with a brain injury that required doctors to remove part of her skull. GoFundMe<\/p>\n
\u201cI can assure you that our agencies have been working hand in hand and will continue to work hand in hand to ensure that this is a holistic and coordinated strategy to ensure safety on our streets and to prevent arbitrary deactivations,\u201d Levine said.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers are considering nearly two dozen proposals for new e-bike laws, some of which place restrictions on high-powered e-bikes and others that add more licensing requirements tied to safety for delivery companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be real enforcement of our existing laws, plus the passage of new laws that require the licensing of third-party apps, insurance, age verification, and bans on the sale of some of the most dangerous e-bikes,\u201d Council Speaker Julie Menin said. \u201cWe will not sit idly by as New Yorkers continue to be injured or killed on our streets.\u201d<\/p>\n