Two West Side community boards have made it clear to City Hall that residents do not want reckless-riding cyclists facing criminal summonses from the NYPD.
The two advisory bodies voiced their opposition to the police department’s new policy, subjecting reckless riders to criminal summonses if they are found to break traffic laws. Several members called this policy unfair, as drivers of motor vehicles only receive civil penalties for the same infractions.
The full board vote at Manhattan’s Community Board 7 (CB7) voted 29-2 in favor of a resolution demanding an end to the new policy, according to Streetsblog. The resolution reads that “holding cyclists to a far higher standard than motor vehicle drivers is unjust, puts immigrant workers at grave risk, and sends the wrong message about the actual danger on our streets.”
Not to be outdone, members of Manhattan Community Board 4 (CB4) in Hell’s Kitchen voted on June 4 to send a letter to the NYPD stating their opposition to the policy.
Jesse Greenwald, co-chair of CB4’s transportation committee, cited concerns around deportation, as much of the delivery workforce is immigrant workers who use bikes to earn their living.
“When our delivery drivers are forced into criminal court for what could be riding through a red light, the stakes are greater than just paying a fine or missing half a day of work or not being able to pick their kids up at school,” Greenwald said. “The consequences could be detention, deportation, or being separated from their families.”
The criminal crackdown on cyclists is especially concerning for board members as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents continue their ramped-up efforts to detain immigrants in major U.S. cities who are in the country illegally. Politicians have been swarming a Lower Manhattan immigration detention center hoping to gain lawful access inside to inspect the facilities, but have been kept out by federal agents.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are looking for any opportunity to detain and deport our immigrant workers,” Greenwald said. “I’m not willing to take that chance with the kind of cruelty this administration is capable of imposing on people just here to make a better life.”
But still, Greenwald and other CB4 members acknowledged reckless bike and e-bike riding in their neighborhoods. Board members agreed that enforcement on reckless bike and e-bike riding is necessary, but said issuing criminal summonses is extreme.
“This is by far the most complaints that police community councils get is ebikes and bikes hitting dogs and hitting kids,” one member said during the June 4 vote, adding that she is still in favor of sending the letter.
Underscoring the board member’s point, the NYPD has repeatedly said that 311 complaints about erratic e-bikes are increasing.
Community board votes are strictly advisory, but the shift in police policy is part of the NYPD’s broader Quality of Life division, launched on April 10, to crack down on non-arrestable offenses such as illegal parking, noise complaints — and reckless bike riding.
It is data-driven and responsive to New Yorkers’ concerns, NYPD officials said.
Meanwhile, according to the Workers Justice Project, which advocates for immigrant workers, over 1,000 criminal summonses have been issued to cyclists as of May 28.
Janet Schroeder, co-founder of the NYC e-Vehicle Safety Alliance, said, similar to the community boards, she is not in favor of criminal summonses for e-bike riders, and prefers rider accountability to follow the rules of the road.
She said that until Priscilla’s Law is passed, requiring visible plates, there is “absolutely no way” to hold “egregious” riders accountable.
Our message to Upper West Side community boards is to listen to the majority of what the Upper West Side communities want, and not the special interest bike lobby, and get behind this common-sense legislation,” she said. “Then, c-summonses will no longer be given, and e-vehicle riders will no longer speed through red lights and on sidewalks, mow down a pedestrian, cyclist or dog and then flee the crash scene leaving the victim unconscious, maimed or killed with the rider never identified. In what world is that acceptable?”
