Queens councilmembers lead charge on e-bike regulations

The City Council is taking on more legislation to combat illegal motorized vehicles on city streets.  Photo via City Council Speaker Julie Menin/X

By Ryan Schwach

Several city councilmembers from Queens are leading the legislative body in its new push to crack down on the proliferation of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters increasingly seen on the city’s streets.

The Council is calling for a hearing on the city’s current regulation of the motorized vehicles and several lawmakers plan on introducing a package of legislation to further the crackdown.

E-bike collisions are up 31.7 percent this year compared to last, according to the Council.

In Queens between 2022-2025, 16 e-bike riders and 10 e-scooter riders were killed, according to transportation group Transportation Alternatives. In the same time period, one pedestrian died in a crash involving e-bikes, and one involving an e-scooter.

Two people were killed on the bicycle-only lane on the Queensboro Bridge in May after a 39-year-old male driving an illegal e-scooter struck a 35-year-old male riding a bicycle and travelling in the opposite direction.

“Too many people have been seriously injured or killed in crashes involving illegal, high-speed e-bikes, e-motos, and e-scooters,” said Council Speaker Julie Menin. “We already have laws on the books, yet they are not being adequately enforced — and we must also examine what additional legislative solutions are needed to keep New Yorkers safe.”

Those legislative efforts include nine bills the Council announced on Tuesday, with more expected to come soon.

Queens legislators are responsible for four of the announced bills.

A bill from Councilmember Lynn Schulman would require delivery services that facilitate or arrange for the delivery of goods in the city to obtain a business license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

The bill would give the city stronger oversight over the companies, Schulman said.

“New Yorkers deserve to know that companies operating delivery platforms in our city are following clear rules and can be held accountable when they don’t,” said Schulman. “As delivery services have expanded far beyond restaurants, our laws need to keep pace.”

A trio of bills come from Southeast Queens Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, who formerly chaired the Transportation Committee in the Council.

One of the bills would establish a task force to study street safety improvements; another would expand the city’s commercial bicycle laws to include e-bikes, mopeds and motorcycles; and the third would require the NYPD to increase its reporting on targeted traffic enforcement.

"The recent tragedies on our streets have made it clear that the status quo is not working,” Brooks-Powers said in a statement to the Eagle. “We need policies that address the real dangers posed by illegal and high-speed vehicles while protecting the delivery workers and New Yorkers who rely on e-bikes and e-scooters every day. Which is why I’m proud to sponsor Intro 110, Intro 124, and Intro 787; these bills are the beginning of a comprehensive effort to improve safety through smarter enforcement, greater accountability, and better street design.”

Other bills introduced on Tuesday would prohibit the sale and rental of class three bicycles with electric assist and establish civil penalties up to $2,000, increase regulations on third party delivery companies, create trade-in incentives and expand enforcement.

The Council will hold a hearing on the bills and on the city’s current e-bike enforcement efforts on Sept. 30.