Tuesday’s Headlines: Gale Force Winds Change Direction Edition

“Sike!”

Streetsblog reported on Oct. 8 that Council Member Gale Brewer had changed her position e-bike registration when she endorsed a state-level bill known as “Priscilla’s Law” to require license plates for every single e-bike.

But Brewer’s now off that bandwagon, apparently, after writing in a newsletter to constituents last week that she “wasn’t clear enough” with Streetsblog’s Sophia Lebowitz in the multiple times the two spoke after Brewer told a town hall in September that she supported state-level e-bike registration.

In fact, Brewer opposes both the city-level and state-level version of “Priscilla’s Law,” she said in her newsletter last week. She called registered every e-bike “a massive task.” She instead supports Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal’s bill requiring the DMV registration of commercial e-bikes only.

“Too many people have been hurt directly, and many more have been scared by delivery e-bikes — it’s a real quality of life issue. But the challenge here is establishing rules that are enforceable, and don’t discourage ridership as an alternative to cars,” Brewer wrote.

Brewer still backs MAGA Council Rep. Vickie Paladino’s similarly impractical bill to ban anyone on an e-bike from city parks, however. You can read Streetsblog’s original story here.

In other news:

• Two City Council members spoke out against the city’s outdated parking minimums in an amNY op-ed.
• An NJ Transit train operator died and 20 people were injured after their train collided with a downed tree. (Gothamist, NY Post)
• MTA declares mission accomplished after latest bus fare enforcement blitz. (NY Post)
• Is the MTA popular now? Gothamist thinks so.
• NY1 couldn’t find a single “scattered” or unsafely ridden e-scooter to back up Adrienne Adams and company’s anti-micromobility “quality of life” gripe-fest. They did find someone who loves the program, wants it to be expanded and hopes his fellow riders follow the rules.