With a growing number of New Yorkers relying on delivery workers for food and other necessities, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that he would end the war on e-bikes that he began waging over two years ago.
"We are suspending that enforcement for the duration of this crisis," the mayor announced during a press briefing.
The city's roughly 40,000 delivery workers have offered a lifeline to New Yorkers at a time when the rapid spread of COVID-19 is confining many residents to their homes. Their role is set to become even more critical, when bars and restaurants statewide are shut down, with the exception of takeout and deliveries, at 8 p.m. on Monday.
“They’ve always been the unsung heroes of New York City," said Helen Ho, the co-founder of the Biking Public Project, a group that advocates for delivery workers. Now, she said, "they become essentially frontline workers."
On Monday, some members of the City Council wrote a letter to the mayor urging him to ensure "the NYPD will not use this moment as as opportunity to crack down on the technology [delivery workers] are using to keep us fed."
The vast majority of delivery cyclists are low income immigrants. Ho noted that the average age of a Chinese delivery worker is 46, while many are in their 50s and 60s, placing them at higher risk if they become infected by the virus.
She called on the city to provide gloves and masks to delivery cyclists, along with paid sick leave for contract workers that don't currently have access to the program.
Transportation Alternatives has also urged the state legislature to immediately legalize e-bikes and e-scooters. After vetoing a legalization bill last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in January that he had reached a deal with lawmakers and would finalize the legislation ahead of the budget in April.
A spokesperson for the Governor's office did not respond to Gothamist's inquiries about whether the bikes would be legalized statewide in the coming days.
New York City's war on e-bikes dates back to 2017, when Mayor de Blasio vowed to severely crack down on the "growing safety problem" posed by the motorized bicycles.
Despite assuring New Yorkers that the enforcement was focused on businesses, not "the little guy," the police department's own data has shown that the overwhelming majority of summonses were issued to those riding the bikes. In multiple instances, the NYPD ignored the city's own direction in order to confiscate bikes and issue $500 fines to working cyclists.
De Blasio said the new guidance would be going out to NYPD precincts later today.
Hours before the announcement, Detective Denise Moroney, an NYPD spokesperson, told Gothamist that the department would not stop enforcement against delivery workers providing essential services to New Yorkers.
"The NYPD continues to enforce vehicle and traffic law offenses committed by the drivers of throttle-powered e-bikes," Maloney said.
If you witness an NYPD officer ticketing a delivery cyclist, email us at [email protected].
