Governor Andrew Cuomo has vetoed a bill that would have legalized electric bikes relied on by tens of thousands of immigrant delivery workers, his office confirmed.

The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Nily Rozic, would have legalized electric bikes and electric scooters, capping speeds at 25 and 20 miles per hour, respectively. The e-bikes, which have a throttle on the handlebars, will remain illegal in the New Year—putting delivery workers at risk of steep fines and having their bikes seized in the New Year.

The veto was a blow for advocates who have been fighting for better working conditions for delivery workers, subject to at least $500 in fines for using e-bikes.

"I'm most sad for all of the workers in New York City who already ride their e-bikes who get harassed by NYPD and ticketed by NYPD on a daily basis," Helen Ho, the co-founder of Biking Public Project, told Gothamist. "I'm sad for them that this will continue to happen to them in the New Year."

Cuomo "hasn't lived a day as a delivery worker—not to say that that's a bad thing, but it's not his universe," Ho added.

"It's hard for him to empathize with the plight of the 40,000 workers who currently ride e-bikes on a daily basis," she said.

The legislation would have added the throttle-powered e-bikes to other types of electric bikes that are already legal—particularly "pedal-assist" e-bikes—a style of e-bikes used by massive corporations such as Amazon, UPS and DHL through a de Blasio administration pilot program and, for a short time, Citi Bike.

The bill passed in June with an overwhelmed majority; just six senators and four assemblymembers voted against the e-bike bill. Ramos said she plans to work to pass the bill in 2020 and every year going forward, "until we finally get the justice these delivery workers deserve."

"Our state has failed to help tens of thousands of New Yorkers who desperately need relief from the punitive measures taken against them every day for merely doing their jobs," Ramos said in a statement. "New York criminalizes delivery workers who are merely trying to make an honest living and slaps them with thousands of dollars in fines, effectively ruining their ability to support themselves and their families." 

Added Rozic, "Despite this missed opportunity, my goal always was and will continue to be a path forward—bike or otherwise for our delivery workers, environment and transit starved communities."

In a statement upon vetoing the bill, Cuomo called the legislation "fatally flawed."

Cuomo said e-bikes and e-scooters could be a "useful tool" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But he said they also have "significant safety concerns," referencing the death of a 16-year-old e-scooter rider in Elizabeth, New Jersey, who died in a crash with a tow truck driver.

He proposed additional safety measures such as a lower speed limit as well as helmet requirements, citing a study in the American Journal of Otolaryngology that found head injuries have tripled in the past decade "due to the use of these motorized vehicles, and of these injuries, two-thirds of the victims were not wearing helmets."

"Helmets are a common-sense requirement that should be imposed on operators of these vehicles to protect public safety," he said.

Critics of such a requirement have pointed out mandating helmets discourages cycling overall, and urge better bike infrastructure instead.

Ho added, "Helmets are great to encourage but we should really design streets that are safe for all people."

There is also no data to support claims that throttle e-bikes are more dangerous for riders than the pedal-assisted e-bikes—or that various types of e-bikes are more dangerous than regular bikes.

While the bill's supporters are disappointed in the e-bike bill's veto, Cuomo did greenlight legislation that would revoke the license of drivers who have medical episodes before crashes, Streetsblog reports.