East Side Residents Fed Up with Cyclists and Motorized E-bikes

Midtown residents on the East Side are sick and tired of cyclists, mopeds and motorized scooters flying all over the road, not obeying the law, causing accidents and coming close to hitting people.

On Oct. 30, those frustrations boiled over at the 17th Precinct Community Council meeting at the Sutton Place Synagogue. Captain Maggie Clamp, who took over as C.O. of the 17th precinct in May, said the department is doing everything it can to get illegal mopeds off the streets.

In the last 28-day period the 17th Precinct has confiscated 103 e-bikes, mopeds and scooters and issued 127 total summonses to bicyclists, which includes e-bikes, mopeds and scooters. Since the start of the year, the 17th Precinct has confiscated 343 e-bikes, mopeds and scooters and issued 827 total summonses to operators of e-bikes, mopeds and scooters.

Clamp said any moped on the road must be registered and insured. Furthermore, if the bike is taken by the police “there is significant work” people must do to get them back.

“When we speak about motorized scooters and e-bikes, that is our primary focus right now in combating crime,” she said at the meeting.

Residents echoed her sentiments throughout the evening. Jordan Duecker of Tudor City said his walk to work on 2nd Avenue and 43rd Street has become quite dangerous due to the increasing number of cyclists and e-bikes on the road who don’t obey the law. He told Our Town there have been many instances where he has seen pedestrians nearly mowed down by cyclists.

He is not against people making a living delivering food or cycling, he said, but there needs to be enforcement of traffic laws.

“Certainly, I think food delivery apps have increased the number of people trying to make a living,” he said. “They’re doing hard work when people are too lazy to go out and get food on their own, but there are basic rules of the road that keep everyone safe if everyone obeys them. There’s also a lack of enforcement from the district attorney’s office and I think that contributes to this.”

Tudor City resident Myrella Triana loves how there are bike lanes throughout the Big Apple, but said they come with a caveat. Too many cyclists and food delivery workers do not follow the law, she said.

According to Triana, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) could help slow cyclists and motorized scooters down by implementing speed bumps along the bike lanes.

“My issue is with the DOT not paying attention to the situation enough to monitor it, understand that it (bike lanes) is literally being used at high speed, by these cyclists who do not stop at the lights,” Triana said. “People can get hurt, particularly the elderly people who can’t move fast enough.”

The Department of Motor Vehicles issued a handy brochure on the different vehicles. Basically, an e-bike with pedals can ride in a bike land or on streets but cannot go faster than 20 MPH –or up 25 MPH for e-bikes with a throttle. An operator does not need a license. Mopeds, however, need a license plate, a VIN number and the user is required to have a license. And a moped can only be driven in lanes intended for vehicular traffic and is banned from bike lanes. Dirt bikes, off road vehicles and go carts are banned from streets and bike lanes. And no vehicles are ever permitted to travel on a sidewalk. https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/ebikes-more-english.pdf