(The Center Square) – New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is cracking down on retailers for “illegally” selling motorized two-wheeled devices they falsely market as e-bikes, but is giving those already on the road a pass.
Mamdani announced Wednesday that his administration had issued cease-and-desist orders to Amazon, Best Buy and 40 other online retailers for selling illegal high-speed e-bikes and scooters in New York City. Retailers that don’t comply face up to $2,000 per sale in fines, he said.
“We cannot and will not accept these dangerous vehicles on our city streets,” Mamdani said in remarks Wednesday. “And yet, the companies that sell these vehicles continue to market them to New Yorkers who trust that the product they are purchasing is legal in the city that they call home.”
Under Mamdani’s order, retailers would be prohibited from selling three kinds of motorized vehicles: stand-up scooters that can go more than 20 miles per hour; e-bikes with motors larger than 750 watts and seated mopeds that lack identification numbers. Retailers were given until Aug. 18 to respond.
City officials say “illegal” e-bikes and stand-up e-scooters have proliferated in recent years, much of it through online sales. Data from the New York Police Department shows e-bikes and stand-up scooters account for more than half of all rider fatalities.
Last month, a 17-year-old boy was killed when he collided with an SUV driver while riding an illegal e-moto device in Lower Manhattan, authorities said.
“There are illegal devices on our streets that are causing confusion and creating safety risks,” Mike Flynn, commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation, said in remarks. “These online retailers have allowed New Yorkers to purchase products that are illegal to sell or operate on city streets – and that must come to an end.”
Safety advocates wanted the Mamdani administration to require registrations for the motorized vehicles and to prioritize enforcement against illegal bikes that are already on the streets.
“This guy is an absolute disaster for street safety!” Andrew Fine, a member of the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, posted on social media. “How can you reign in the problem with no enforcement, and no registration and accountability? You can’t! This ‘plan’ is the ultimate slither out of actually dealing with the carnage on our streets!”
Advocates have been pressuring Albany lawmakers to approve “Priscilla’s law,” a proposal that would require e-bikes and electric scooters to be registered and have license plates.
The bill, named after Priscilla Loke – a 69-year-old New Yorker struck and killed by an e-bike in Manhattan in 2023 – has been languishing in a legislative committee since it was refiled last year.
Mamdani has also been criticized by traffic safety advocates issuing a directive that eliminated criminal summonses for e-bike operators committing traffic violations.
On Tuesday, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced that councilors will consider 17 bills related to e-bikes that could provide a framework for new regulations.
“We owe New Yorkers streets that are safer to walk, safer to bike, safer to drive,” Menin said in a statement. “Just as we all share the city, we all share the roads and the responsibility to use them responsibly.”
