The NYPD must "immediately end" its criminal summons crackdown against cyclists and e-bikes, an Upper West Side community board committee resolved on Tuesday night after grilling police brass about the strategy that is supposedly based on feedback heard at ... community meetings.
With its vote, Manhattan Community Board 7's Transportation committee joins a growing chorus of politicians and residents demanding the Adams administration cease its sweeping policy of escalating simple traffic tickets to criminal court summonses for infractions like running red lights or not stopping at a stop sign.
"[CB7] calls on the NYPD to immediately end the policy ... and find another way to mitigate bad behavior," reads the resolution [PDF] the board's committee passed on Tuesday night. "Holding cyclists to a far higher standard than motor vehicle drivers is unjust, puts immigrant workers at grave risk, and sends the wrong message about the actual danger on our streets."
The summons blitz by Commissioner Jessica Tisch – first exposed by Streetsblog and peeled away onion-like in more than a dozen follow-ups – aims to rein in "rogue" e-bike riders, who, unlike drivers, don't carry a driver's license that could be suspended for failing to make a court date.
Since April 28, the enforcement frenzy has roped in people on non-e-bikes in Kafkaesque ways. Cops have forced people into court for things like stopping just beyond the stop line at an intersection, or in some cases entrapping New Yorkers by jumping in front of riders and then charging them with failing to yield, people ticketed have told Streetsblog.
Members of the CB7 panel questioned whether NYPD's upping the ante is based on any evidence that cyclists disproportionately dodge their court dates, and raised the fears that immigrant delivery workers could end up in the dragnet of federal immigration officers.
"This whole thing is predicated on the allegation that cyclists aren’t showing up [to traffic court]," CB7 member Ken Coughlin asked at the meeting. "They decided to do this criminal summons thing before they got the data, before they found out there was a problem.
"We’re putting the cart before the horse here," Coughlin added.
The city should be targeting the app companies driving delivery workers to ride unlawfully to get more trips done, the Manhattanite said.
"They are literally forcing delivery workers to break the law, otherwise they’re not going to get any more deliveries and they’re not going to be able to earn a living," Coughlin said.
Commissioner Tisch's office sent a liaison to the uptown meeting to provide details about the shift, but when committee members asked the representative whether the NYPD has any data, the detective demurred.
"We are still working on collecting the data, if that’s something you and the committee are interested in, I’ll be able to go back to you on this," said Det. Christopher Williams of the Commissioner's Office. "This [meeting] was a last-minute call for us – we’re still gathering information, hoping to gather more today, and bring it back if necessary."
Police brass originally touted the new policy as "data-driven," but later admitted that the bike crackdown actually arose out of complaints at meetings like precinct community council meetings (as well complaints from, quite possibly, the police commissioner's own mother).
Board members agreed that some cyclists and e-bike riders behave badly, but said risking handing them over to deportation-eager immigration officers is a step too far.
"By giving someone a criminal penalty we may be relegating them to a forever prison in El Salvador, and that’s something we can do for people in our community to potentially save their neck. And for me that overrides any other consideration," said Howard Yaruss.
NYPD's own stats reveal that e-bike riders accounted for just one pedestrian injury in the first three months of this year, or 0.04 percent compared to the 2,271 people on foot injured in traffic violence. Last year, 37 pedestrians were injured by e-bikers out of the 9,610 pedestrians injured overall, meaning that e-bike riders caused fewer than 0.4 percent of pedestrian injuries over a year.
Defying the police's own data, one Manhattanite called into the meeting asserting that cyclists "menace" her daily, while dismissing immigration risks as "international problems."
"I have been menaced by a car exactly once in living in Manhattan for more than 30 years. I am now currently menaced by bikes almost every time I leave my apartment," said Judi Polson. "Allowing pedestrians to be menaced on a regular basis because the person doing the menacing might be sent to El Salvador does not protect New Yorkers, quite honestly.
"The job of this organization, as I understand it, is to protect New Yorkers and not to fix international problems," she concluded.
Another uptowner said at the May 21 meeting that the NYPD should clean up its own act of dumping their cars illegally in bike lanes – which actually poses a safety risk.
"If you want to start enforcement for safety, let’s start with getting the double parking in the street and the vehicles – including police vehicles on Columbus Circle every morning that block the bike lane," said Upper West Side resident Laura Sachs.
The committee voted five in favor of the resolution and one against, along with three abstentions. The letter heads to the full board for a vote on June 3.
CB 7 has come out against supporting delivery workers in the past, notoriously rejecting a call for their right to use restaurant bathrooms. Meanwhile, residents of the wealthy and supposedly progressive area place an above-average number of orders that those same workers deliver to their front doors.
Streetsblog has been covering NYPD Commissioner Tisch's decision to turn traditional traffic tickets into criminal summonses like no one else in town. Here's a full list of our coverage over the past two weeks, in case you have missed something or need a reminder that when there's a big story on the livable streets beat, turn to Streetsblog:
- May 2: "Policy Change: NYPD Will Write Criminal Summonses, Not Traffic Tickets, for Cyclists."
- May 5: "NYPD’s Red Light Criminalization Marks ‘Obscene’ Escalation: Advocates."
- May 6: "As NYPD’s Criminal Crackdown on Cyclists Expands, It Grows More Absurd: Victims."
- May 7: "Komanoff: Tsk, Tsk, Tisch — Criminal Summonses for Cyclists Will Backfire."
- May 9: "NYPD’s Push To Criminalize Cycling Spells Trouble For Immigrant Workers."
- May 12: "Cyclist Launches Class Action Suit For Bogus NYPD Red Light Tickets."
- May 14: "NYPD Admits Bike Crackdown Based on ‘Community’ Vibes, Not Data."
- May 15: "Tisch Rap: NYPD Criminal E-bike Summonses Surge 4,000 Percent."
- May 15: "Quiet Desperation: NYPD’s Tisch Didn’t Tell DOT About Her Crackdown on Cycling."
- May 16: "‘All in the Family’: NYPD Commissioner and Power-Broker Mom Are Both Crusading Against E-Bikes."
- May 19: "A Valuable History Lesson for Jessica Tisch: ‘The Rules of the Road’ Were Written for Cars."
- May 19: Day 1: "Criminal Court Judge Issues Safety Lectures to Cyclists, Including Citi Bike Celeb"
If you have received a criminal court summons for riding a bike, e-bike or other micromobility device, we would love to hear from you. We can keep your experience confidential if you prefer. Please email tips@streetsblog.org or reach reporter Kevin Duggan on Signal.
