By Committee Against Lawless Motorcycles
Just when New Yorkers were adapting to the ubiquity and legalization of electric bicycles (e-bikes), another invasion of bigger badder machines has taken our streets, bike paths, and sidewalks by storm.
On June 4th, actress Lisa Banes, 65, was run down by a “scooter” in a crosswalk near Lincoln Center and later died. In another incident, in Corona, Queens, gunmen shot up a street corner, speeding away on “scooters.”
Really, cute “scooters?” Let’s stop fooling ourselves. What the press calls “scooters” are one form or other of lawless motorcycles driven without plates, registration, or insurance. Many of these are electric, but countless others are noisy gas-powered machines reaching speeds over 40 miles per hour.
Let’s be clear. These products are not “e-bikes.” E-bikes have pedals and cannot legally exceed 25 miles per hour or have more than a 750-watt motor. Police once impounded many e-bikes. But taking away the delivery workers’ means of making a living created a public relations debacle for Mayor de Blasio. When the pandemic hit, the New York City Council legalized many classes of e-bikes as delivery workers became front line heroes.
Recently, certain businesses started selling faster, bigger, illegal machines in the tens of thousands, telling purchasers they were street legal, with no registration, no plate, and no insurance required. Check out Fly E-Bikes, with multiple stores in NYC, or Fly Wing E-Bikes (flywingny.com) in Brooklyn. Right here in the West Village, the Last Mile, located on the east side of West 4th Street at Perry Street, has these lawless motorcycles lined up in the window. These are just a few stores and there are more to come. (Fly E-Bikes even offers franchise stores.) Most machines are coming from China, with a few coming from European and US manufacturers. The dealers often market these products as “e-bikes,” though they are motorcycles and have no pedals. The wrap-around helmet completes the package, ensuring drivers cannot be identified.
It’s hard not be impressed by the advancing innovation and technology of these products. But advancing toward what? A Mad Max/Blade Runner future is being foisted upon us despite the NYC Administrative Code that bans the sale and use of motorized scooters, which are defined as “any wheeled device that has handlebars, that is designed to be stood on or sat upon by the operator, is powered by an electric motor or by a gasoline motor that is capable of propelling the device without human power, and is not capable of being registered with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.” The definition was amended last year to exempt electrical bicycles.
The Department of Consumer Affairs and Worker Protection can fine sellers $1,000 per unit in stores for the first violation, and $2,000 per unit for the second violation. Why is this agency not using its power to enforce the law? The NYPD can ticket drivers and impound the machines. Why is the NYPD not doing this? Has the mayor told these agencies, which exist to protect and serve the public, to stand down and not do their jobs? Moreover, why is the media not covering the lawless motorcycle menace?
Unless action is taken quickly, what is presently a public menace will quickly morph into mayhem. Visit calmny.org for more details.
