Licenses, Enforce For Bikes In Parks Needed, Says UES Community Board

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — If you use a pedal-assist e-bike to commute to work, you might have to think twice before trying to enjoy a leafy and car-free ride home through Central Park.

Community Board 8 overwhelmingly approved a resolution Wednesday night seeking to reign in the "lawlessness" of electric bikes and mopeds in the neighborhood by supporting the suspension of a new pilot program allowing e-bikes in Central Park and by calling for e-bikes to require license plates, registration and insurance.

Many board members and members of the public compared the neighborhood's "overrun" e-bike situation to the "wild west," and a post-apocalyptic steel-cage fight to the death.

"The lawlessness of these e-bikes is absolutely staggering to anyone who sees them," said board member Ed Hartzog. "As George Costanza says: it's 'Thunderdome' out there."

A recent Daily News story claims that twice as many people have died in e-bike related crashes so far this year (12) than pedal-powered bicycles (six).

The resolution, which has no actual binding power, was decided at a meeting earlier in July and supporters hope that elected officials will take note and try to bring some order and accountability to electrified riders.

For some, like board member Billy Freeland, who tried at the last minute to amend the resolution to focus on tackling the moped enforcement issue first, the vote seemed "shortsighted."

"If we can’t get the basics of moped enforcement right," he told Patch, "why are we spinning our wheels (no pun intended) to target Citi Bike users?"

He noted that he often uses a Citi Bike to commute to work and this resolution would mean he couldn't continue his ride home through Central Park if he were on a pedal-assist e-bike.

The resolution makes no distinction between pedal-assist bikes, which require riders to pedal to gain a small boost of power for going up hills, and throttle e-bikes commonly used by delivery riders, which can be powered by using a handlebar-mounted throttle controller and typically reach higher speeds.

"It's not looking out for our climate, it's not looking out for alternative modes of transportation. It's not looking out, frankly, for people who just want to go and get a little bit of exercise in the park," Freeland said.

Board member Sharon Pope-Marshall, who said she owns a car and two bikes, voted for Freeland's resolution and said she feared the original resolution was going to be too punitive and "dampen the enthusiasm" for their growing usage.

"It's very important that people are able to avail themselves and use different modalities — transportation modalities," said Pope-Marshall.

"It's critical to acknowledge that there have been negative interactions with a bikes and pedestrians and regular biking," she added, "but you know what? That is the case with automobiles as well."

Board chair Russell Squire said that when he made the original motion, "I deliberately included e-bikes in the resolution."

Squire said he is not trying to eliminate the bikes from the streets, but that the resolution is trying to fix a lack of enforcement mechanism for the bikes.

"What an enforcement is possible on an electric bike unless it has some sort of identification on it like a license plate?" Squire asked. "We're not doing high-speed chases against this."

Freeland's amended resolution failed 8 - 31.

The original resolution passed 32 - 8.