The City Council’s public safety chair is demanding that the NYPD put the brakes on harassing e-bike food delivery workers.
Councilman Donovan Richards — with support from 14 colleagues — said the police crackdown on the electric bikes is causing “extreme hardship” for the workers, particularly older immigrants who could use the extra boost from the pedal-powered bicycles.
“I appreciate NYPD and DOT’s efforts to address reckless and dangerous behavior on our streets, but the collision trends do not support the level of e-bike enforcement we are seeing in our neighborhoods,” Richards told The Post Sunday.
He said e-bikes were involved in only .07 percent of 2018 collisions on city streets.
“Similar to marijuana enforcement and stop, question and frisk, the data does not support the focus on confiscating a vital tool to how many immigrants make a living in our city,” Richards said.
Concern over the Big Apple e-bike crackdown comes as a state law lifting restrictions on e-bikes and e-scooters remains at a standstill in Albany. State lawmakers approved the move in June, but the bill came to a screeching halt when it reached Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk.
The governor has yet to sign it.
“The truth of the matter is that these delivery workers just want to go about their day without fear or retaliation,” said state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Queens), the bill’s sponsor in that chamber. “If New York wants to continue being known for its workers’ rights, we need to include everything in that.”
In an Oct. 18 letter to then-NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill and city Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, which was co-signed by the other 14 council members, Richards urged action at the local level while the state bill is pending.
He asked for a moratorium on ticketing and confiscation of e-bikes, a reduction or expungement of past fines, and additional DOT bike-safety training for food delivery workers.
O’Neill responded on Nov. 22, saying that e-bike enforcement is part of a 2014 initiative by Mayor Bill de Blasio to “increase accountability for people driving dangerously on New York Streets.”
Pedal-assist e-bikes, which gets a boost in speed only when the rider pedals the bike, are already legal in the city — but the speedier throttle-control e-bikes favored by food delivery workers are not.
“The safety of everyone using the streets of New York is among the highest priorities of the police department,” O’Neill wrote. “Our focus has been, and will continue to be, addressing those individuals who operate vehicles and bicycles recklessly and dangerously.”
But delivery workers like Jinhua Li said the juiced-up e-bikes “are the most convenient, time-saving and safest alternative for food delivery workers.”
“Our poor working conditions require us riding about 10 hours on NYC’s busy streets and most employers do not provide us with any insurance,” Li said. “Encounter with an accident can lead to lost support for our family.”
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