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E-Bike Licensing Bill Considered by City Council, Drawing Fierce Debate

Priscilla’s Law, named after a 69-year-old woman struck and killed in Chinatown by an e-bike in September 2023, aims to mandate DOT registration and licensing for e-bikes and mopeds. Proponents believe that the law will create safer streets, while delivery advocates and restaurant groups fear that it will lead to administrative burdens and enforcement issues.

| 15 Dec 2024 | 07:05
    E-bikes at 9th Avenue and 45th Street, Hell’s Kitchen, August 2024. E-bikers occasionally head in the wrong direction (note “WRONG WAY” sign), leading some to call for reform.
    E-bikes at 9th Avenue and 45th Street, Hell’s Kitchen, August 2024. E-bikers occasionally head in the wrong direction (note “WRONG WAY” sign), leading some to call for reform. ( Photo: Brian Berger)
    City Councilmember Bob Holden rallying in front of New York City Hall on Dec. 11, to promote a bill that would mandate licenses for e-bikes and other mopeds.
    City Councilmember Bob Holden rallying in front of New York City Hall on Dec. 11, to promote a bill that would mandate licenses for e-bikes and other mopeds. ( Photo: Bob Holden, X.com)
    People attending a City Council committee meeting on Priscilla’s Law, which would require the DMV to establish licensing and registration for e-bikes and other mopeds.
    People attending a City Council committee meeting on Priscilla’s Law, which would require the DMV to establish licensing and registration for e-bikes and other mopeds. ( Photo: E-Vehicle Safety Alliance)
    Police say the man pictured above was riding an e-bike that struck and killed retired Head Start teacher Priscilla Loke in Chinatown in September 2023. A bill e-bike registration bill before the city council is named after her.
    Police say the man pictured above was riding an e-bike that struck and killed retired Head Start teacher Priscilla Loke in Chinatown in September 2023. A bill e-bike registration bill before the city council is named after her. ( Photo: NYPD)

A contentious bill that seeks to create mandatory registration and licensing for e-bikes and mopeds is being considered by the City Council. Named Priscilla’s Law, after an 80-year-old woman that was struck and killed by an e-bike in Chinatown last year, the legislation would task the state’s Department of Transportation with providing such registration and licensing. The NYPD would reportedly carry out enforcement.

Queens Councilmember Robert Holden is the primary sponsor of the bill. He’s being backed by a community group known as the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance. At a rally held on steps of New York City Hall on Dec. 11, the day of an eight-hour hearing on the bill held by the City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Holden said that “the scourge of e-bikes in our streets, on our sidewalks, and even inside our buildings continues to wreak chaos, injure and maim people, and, tragically, take lives.”

Yet pushback is coming from a variety of angles, including from the city’s Department of Transportation itself. At the Dec. 11 hearing, DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez expressed concern that the bill would essentially turn his agency into a mini-DMV, which he believes would strain its resources.

Rodriguez also said that the bill drew focus away from the largest source of pedestrian deaths, which is cars: “Reckless driving by motor vehicle drivers remains—by far—the biggest threat to pedestrian safety. So far this year, 105 pedestrians were killed by cars or larger vehicles compared to six killed in crashes with e-bikes, mopeds, and stand-up e-scooters combined.”

”We agree with the intent, but we believe that mandating registration and licensing is not a solution,” he added.

Other groups, such as delivery worker advocates and restaurant organizations, are also concerned by the bill. Some politicians and activists fear that working-class delivery workers, many of whom are immigrants or people of color, would face threats to their livelihoods and their civil liberties due to police enforcement. Harlem Councilmember Yusef Salaam, a member of the Central Park Five, pulled his sponsorship of the bill after the hearing.

Restaurant groups, such as The Hospitality Alliance, have said that the bill will lead to a significant uptick in paperwork.

Notably, Upper West Side Councilmember Gale Brewer is advocating for a separate state law that would focus on registering commercially used e-bikes and mopeds. She introduced a resolution of support for the legislation at the same committee meeting, and has said that hearing complaints from her constituents about e-bikes pushed her towards her current stance.

Multiple Manhattan politicians, including Brewer, issued a standalone report on e-bike safety in “anticipation” of the hearing; it came paired with recommendations including: creating universal “daylighting” to enhance pedestrian visibility at intersections, establishing regulations to protect delivery workers from “dangerous incentives,” requiring food-delivery companies to provide liability insurance for delivery workers, making these same companies pay more for street safety upgrades, permitting unpaid wage arbitration, and increasing the amount of two-way bike lanes to discourage cycling on the sidewalk.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, State Assemblymember Tony Simone, State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, City Councilmember Erik Bottcher, and City Councilmember Keith Powers all gave their support to the report.

“Cycling is a greener, healthier and efficient way to move around New York City and I’m excited that it has grown so much in popularity over the last 20 years,” Bottcher said. “However, it’s clear that the city is failing at establishing a culture of bike safety and solutions are needed.”

In the September 18, 2023 incident, Priscilla Loke, a retired Head Start school teacher, was crossing a street in Chinatown when she was struck by an e-biker.

The biker disembarked and helped the injured woman and notified a police officer, before driving off. She was transported to the hospital and died from head injuries several days later. The video about the incident was only released after the family and other advocates pressured the police.

A police spokesperson said there is no arrest on file concerning the incident. Law enforcement sources said the police did eventually track down the cyclist, but it was decided there was no criminality involved and that it was just a tragic accident.