A West Side Manhattan community board committee struck down a new city bike policy that they say is unfair and unnecessarily puts immigrant New Yorkers at risk of being booted out of the country.
Members of the Manhattan Community Board 4 Transportation Committee, which represents Chelsea and nearby areas, voted unanimously on May 21 to oppose new NYPD enforcement that would give criminal summonses rather than civil tickets when they break the rules of the road, such as running red lights, not stopping for stop signs, and other traffic offenses.
Although members agreed that enforcement on reckless bike and e-vehicle riding is needed, they said issuing criminal summonses is extreme.
“We have written several letters, including one just last month, on these quality of life issues,” said Jesse Greenwald, co-chair of the board’s transportation planning committee. “We are aware and have our own issues about bicyclists who are not obeying our traffic laws. The issue here is when we asked for enforcement, and we asked for more enforcement, on one hand, we are happy to see it, but on the other hand, we never said we want bikes to be enforced more than cars.”
While the board’s vote is strictly advisory, the shift in policy is part of the NYPD’s broader Quality of Life division, which cracks down on non-arrestable offenses such as illegal parking and noise complaints. It is data-driven and responsive to New Yorkers’ concerns, NYPD officials said.
Although the vote is nonbinding, the community board members said the “scheme” treats cyclists more harshly than drivers of cars and trucks. Not only that, members said, the immigration consequences for cyclists who are undocumented are “too significant” to justify the use of the criminal court system for bike infractions.
Why the city targets reckless riding
But Mayor Eric Adams remained steadfast that reckless e-bike riding is prevalent throughout the city and needs to be addressed.
“We have to get everything from the mopeds to the bikes, everyone who is not following the law,” Adams said during a May 27 press conference at City Hall. “People don’t realize that the rules for bikes and mopeds are the same. A lot of our focus on Vision Zero, a lot of our uptick in enforcement, has solely focused on cars, going after the four wheels. For cities and streets to be safe, all wheels must follow the law.”
According to the NYPD, 311 complaints from New Yorkers about erratic e-vehicle riding are increasing.
“It’s actually one of the largest pieces of feedback I get from New Yorkers about e-bikes and scooters, either out of control or up on the sidewalk,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in April.
While the unit is addressing quality-of-life issues, it is not always about criminalizing offenders, the commissioner said.
“In 2025, quality-of-life enforcement is not about preventing more serious crime,” Tisch said. “It is about improving the quality of life. It’s about being responsive to actual community complaints and fixing the very real issues people are dealing with every day.”
“Vast majority of New Yorkers have never been a victim of a crime. In fact, most of them have never even witnessed a crime,” she said. “But many of them have struggled to find parking because abandoned vehicles are taking up spots in the neighborhood or have had to jump out of the way for an e-bike on the sidewalk.”
Enforcement is harming immigrants, group says
Meanwhile, representatives from the Workers’ Justice Project, which advocates for immigrant workers, expressed concern over the policy, calling it “harmful” and unfairly targeting cyclists and delivery workers.
“Rather than holding app-based companies accountable for unsafe working conditions, the NYPD and Mayor Adams are criminalizing the very workers who keep New York City running,” according to a statement from the organization. “Many workers have also been misled about how to resolve these tickets, revealing a disturbing pattern of racial and economic targeting that demands urgent public attention.”
Meanwhile, residents in Community Board 4’s district expressed their concerns about both the new NYPD policy and reckless bike riding.
“I think we’ve been consistent in saying we want the rules of the road enforced for both cars and cyclists,” a local resident named Charlie said. “It’s mind-boggling that we would give a worse penalty to someone [on a bike].”
Marisa Redanty, another area resident, said it is difficult to apply the same traffic rules that drivers have to cyclists since the latter are often not registered.
“It can not ever be equal unless they all have licenses,” she said. “No one is against bike riders. We’re against bike cowboys. They flip you off if you say ‘you almost hit me.’”
A full vote from the Community Board is expected at a June 4 meeting.
