Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday said the city will crack down on the online sales of illegal e-bikes and scooters following a series of deadly crashes involving so-called micromobility devices.
The mayor said the city had issued 42 cease-and-desist orders to online retailers demanding that the companies stop selling devices that are banned in the five boroughs due to their speed and weight. Last week, a 17-year-old boy died riding an illegal e-bike that could reach 30 mph. The city’s speed limit for e-bikes and e-scooters is 15 mph.
“We cannot and will not accept these dangerous vehicles on our city streets,” Mamdani said at a press conference at City Hall.
The retailers receiving the cease-and-desist orders include Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart. Mamdani said the companies have until Aug. 18 to comply with the orders. Afterward, they will be subject to fines.
A recent spate of deaths has sparked attention from lawmakers, who have struggled to regulate e-bikes and other micromobility devices that have become increasingly popular since the pandemic. The issue presents a test for Mamdani on how to balance safety concerns against the interests of food delivery workers as well as cycling advocates, who worry that crackdowns will dampen interest in biking.
Earlier this year, Mamdani ended the NYPD’s policy of issuing criminal summonses to cyclists for minor traffic offenses, a directive that drew complaints from delivery workers and bike advocates.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced a plan on Tuesday to consider 17 bills related to e-bikes that could provide a framework for new regulations.
“We cannot wait again for tragedy to strike,” Menin said. “We owe New Yorkers streets that are safer to walk, safer to bike, safer to drive. Just as we all share the city, we all share the roads and the responsibility to use them responsibly.”
The debate over regulation of e-bikes is set to heat up next month, when the Council has set a hearing to question transportation, NYPD and consumer protection officials.
Between 2017 and 2025, 45 rider fatalities involved illegal e-bikes capable of traveling faster than 25 mph, accounting for 54% of all e-bike rider deaths during that period, according to Mamdani’s press release. During that same period, 14 riders died on stand-up scooters capable of traveling faster than 20 mph, representing 52% of all stand-up scooter deaths.
Activists have already staked out their positions.
Transportation Alternatives, a safe streets advocacy group, expressed support for banning the sale of e-bikes that can exceed 20 mph.
“We historically want to be on the side of safe and calm streets for everyone,” the group's Executive Director Ben Furnas told Gothamist. “It still continues to be the case that cars and trucks are responsible for the overwhelming amount of tragedy and loss and death on the streets. But this is a non-trivial number of injuries.”
Furnas also called for stricter regulation of food delivery apps, which he said endangers workers by asking them to meet aggressive delivery times.
Andrew Fine, a member of the grassroots E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, urged the council to pass a resolution in support of requiring all e-bikes and scooters to be registered with license plates. State lawmakers would need to approve the bill, which is named after Priscilla Loke, who was killed in 2023 by an electric Citi Bike rider.
Cycling advocates argue that registration will only create hurdles for people who want to purchase a safe and reliable e-bike. But Fine said it’s the only way to hold users of e-bikes accountable.
“Where there are plates on the bikes, we know the cameras don't discriminate,” he said.
