The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation proposed a plan to permanently allow the use of stand-up e-scooters and e-bikes within certain park areas, the agency announced on Thursday.
The proposal would integrate the same micro mobility devices that are allowed on NYC streets into parks while continuing to ban mopeds and other “heavy vehicles,” officials said on July 3. It would be an extension of a pilot launched in 2023, with the addition of “insights gained” from the program to create new methods for managing micro mobility riders and pedestrians in park drives and greenways, such as the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.
Officials from both Parks and the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) said they are “exploring further physical safety measures” to protect e-bikes, e-scooters, and pedestrians from colliding. Measures include making space between the different groups, ways to separate pedestrians, cyclists, and other “high-speed users,” modifications to signals, and ways to “better direct” pedestrians to archways to reduce conflicts on drives.
“It’s critically important that our public realm can safely accommodate the diverse ways that New Yorkers get around and enjoy our city’s public spaces, Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, NYC parks commissioner, said. “We are focused on improving safety in our parks, and allowing the same e-bikes and e-scooters that are allowed in city bike lanes on our park drives and greenways would make our city safer and more accommodating for pedestrians, cyclists, and e-mobility users alike.”
According to Rodriguez-Rosa, the proposed plan was based on public input gathered during the two-year pilot.
Some street safety advocates seethe
However, the proposal was announced after more than 100 New Yorkers rallied outside Central Park on May 8, demanding an end to the pilot allowing the devices in parks. Many of the protestors were themselves cyclists.
“The Parks Department has truly let down New Yorkers by taking away our only oasis to escape e-vehicles,” said Janet Schroeder, co-founder of the NYC e-vehicle Safety Alliance (EVSA). “No redesign on drives will ever stop riders from speeding through red lights, looking down at phones and riding all over the pedestrian pathways.”
She also expressed concern about the use of unicycles in parks, which are illegal to ride in NYC.
“Unicycles are illegal in NYC, but they are in our parks because whatever is permitted will always be exceeded,” she added.
According to the NYPD’s latest traffic statistics, e-bike collisions citywide have increased over 11% year to date, compared to the same period in 2024.
Queens City Council Member Robert Holden, with the support of almost half of the NYC Council, sponsored Intro 0060, which would prohibit e-scooters and e-bikes from operating in city parks.
“Our parks are for relaxation, not transportation,” Schroeder said. “We will fight this until Intro 0060 is passed.”
Meanwhile, other New Yorkers and various advocacy groups said giving e-bikes and e-scooters access to greenways and park drives is a “critical step forward” in adapting to transportation trends.
“Thank you to Commissioner Rodriguez-Rosa and NYC Parks for recognizing that thoughtful design of public space can both improve street safety and contribute to our city’s equitable growth, especially for the tens of thousands of deliveristas who depend on e-bikes to make a living,” said Ligia Guallpa, executive director of Worker’s Justice Project. “When our infrastructure supports safe, dignified work for those powering our economy, it benefits everyone—creating a more accessible, sustainable, and worker-friendly city.”
It is unclear when—or if—the proposal will be implemented. It will undergo a formal rule change process with public input.
