BY JACK DELANEY | jdelaney@queensledger.com
CITY HALL — A city-wide battle over e-bikes has been bubbling for years. Is it about to boil over?
Last week, two of the main power players in NYC politics — the mayor and the speaker of the City Council — announced separate initiatives to crack down on a rise in accidents linked to e-bikes, scooters, and mopeds.
On Tuesday, August 4, Speaker Julie Menin released a list of 17 proposals to regulate so-called “micromobility” vehicles, which lawmakers will consider during a dedicated hearing on September 30.
The floated bills include legislation that would force food delivery apps to obtain a business license and to share their workers’ location data; require the NYPD to disclose more information about its traffic enforcement stops; and raise penalties on riders for leaving the scene of a crash.At a press conference outside City Hall, Menin highlighted the case of a 43-year-old Upper West Side resident named Jean who was struck by an e-bike on July 7 while jogging in Central Park, suffering a head injury that temporarily left her in a coma.
“Today’s announcement is not about blaming any one party,” insisted Menin. “It’s about finding solutions before the problem gets any worse.”
The next day, Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled his own strategy: Sending cease-and-desist orders to 42 online retailers that allegedly sell illegal e-vehicles capable of eclipsing the speed limit.
“With little support from the app companies they work for, many [delivery workers] are forced to navigate a confusing marketplace where illegal, unsafe vehicles are often the most accessible and affordable option,” said Ligia Guallpa, co-founder of the nonprofit Los Deliveristas Unidos, praising the move. “Improving street safety for all New Yorkers means ensuring those vehicles are never sold in the first place.”
Notably, neither the mayor nor the speaker publicly backed Priscilla’s Law, one of the most aggressive proposals to regulate e-bikes. First introduced by Queens rep Bob Holden in December 2024, the bill would require that micromobility vehicles be licensed and registered like cars; supporters say the measure would make streets safer, while critics have argued the plan is too expensive and could potentially leave the city’s nearly 80,000 delivery workers — many of whom are immigrants — more vulnerable to ICE.
The renewed focus on e-bikes comes amid an increase in collisions involving micromobility vehicles. In July, for example, the DOT recorded 560 incidents linked to e-bikes and 795 linked to e-scooters, representing an approximately 30% bump from the same period last year.
But transportation analysts note that the data does not adjust for usage — a 2025 MIT study suggests that e-bikes are now the most prevalent vehicle in bike lanes, accounting for two-thirds of riders, and that number is likely rising. Another caveat is that e-vehicle crashes comprise 1% of the city’s total traffic collisions in 2026, per the DOT, and most cases involve a rider being struck by a driver.
Yet the issue remains a live wire, as residents worry about their safety in public spaces. On June 25, a five-year-old girl was struck by an e-bike rider on the track at Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village, Queens. Councilmember Phil Wong, whose district encompasses the neighborhood, summed up the reaction of many of his constituents: “How many more victims do we need before this city decides enough is enough?”
