There’s road rage brewing within the Adams administration over legislation aimed at reducing the rise in deaths and injuries involving e-bikes in the Big Apple.
Mayor Adams told transit stakeholders in September he supports a bill requiring all electric-powered bikes and scooters to register with the city’s Department of Transportation and obtain license plates — just as cars and other legal vehicles now do through the state Department of Motor Vehicles, according to people who attended the private meeting.
But Adams’ handpicked DOT Commissioner, Ydanis Rodriguez, publicly opposed the legislation during a City Council committee hearing on Dec. 11. The commissioner said that while he “supports” the bill’s “intent” he has many concerns, including that it could “lead to a focus of enforcement against delivery workers, many of whom are just trying to make ends meet and provide for their families.”
The bill’s sponsor, City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens), chafed at the suggestion his legislation would lead to selective enforcement against a particular group, including delivery drivers, many of whom are illegal migrants.
Enforcing laws against people who run “red lights [and break other traffic rules] is not racist,” Holden told Rodriguez.
“The mayor [has] said he supports my bill. The fact that it didn’t trickle down to your agency is puzzling,” fumed Holden, who also attended the September stakeholders meeting at City Hall.
Rodriquez and his immediate supervisor, Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi, have gone “rogue” and are “wokesters” steering an anti-car agenda, Holden claimed to The Post.
“They’re sidelining the mayor, ignoring community voices, and pushing the agenda of special interests,” he said, demanding both Rodriguez and Joshi resign.
Adams appeared to double down on his support of the bill Monday on a podcast hosted by Little Africa News publisher Mona Davids, saying too many e-bike and e-scooter riders aren’t following the law and are putting pedestrians, especially seniors, at risk.
“People are riding on sidewalks, running through red lights, going through crosswalks, and it’s become a danger,” said Adams, who failed to mention his DOT commissioner blindsided him days earlier by opposing the bill.
A City Hall source, however, said Adams is indeed perturbed about being undermined by Rodriquez, a former Manhattan councilman who was appointed to the $243,171-a-year job after helping Adams secure key Latino community support during the 2021 mayoral race.
Forty-eight people were killed in e-bike crashes in NYC over the past five years, including 34 cyclists, 13 pedestrians and a motorist, according to city data compiled by Crash Mapper. The data fails to specify who was at fault.
The bill’s supporters say many other traffic accidents involving e-bikes go unreported.
Mandatory licensing would also help pinpoint the parties to blame for more than 735 e-bike battery fires, which have resulted in 500 injuries and 30 fatalities since 2019, they added.
Liz Garcia, a mayoral spokesperson, declined to address private conversations Adams has had with Holden, Rodriguez or any other stakeholders about the bill.
However, she insisted the mayor, Rodriguez and Joshi are on the same page and support the bill’s “intent” to drive down e-bike accidents.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the City Council on advancing a comprehensive response to this issue and making e-bike usage safer for everyone,” Garcia said.
