New data obtained by Streetsblog completely undermines Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch's stated rationale for the criminal crackdown on cycling, revealing that in the first four months of this year, e-bike crashes and injuries were down by double-digit percentages.
Pedestrian injuries caused by e-bike riders were down nearly 50 percent between Jan. 1 and April 30 compared to the same period in 2024, while overall injuries caused by e-bikers were down 26 percent, according to new data from the Department of Transportation.
The number of pedestrians hurt in e-bike crashes dropped from 34 injuries last year to 18 this year. That's 0.6 percent out of the 2,992 total reported pedestrian injuries through April 30 — the latest evidence confirming a longstanding fact: e-bikes make up a tiny fraction of the carnage on the streets:
The figures raise serious questions about Tisch's month-old policy directing cops to give out criminal court summons rather than a regular traffic ticket, or B summons, to cyclists for low-level violations such as passing through red lights or stop signs, failing to yield to a pedestrian or going the wrong way.
The pink slip spree took effect on April 28, and police have spread their dragnet far beyond those violations, raising concerns that the court battles will endanger immigrants. Tisch said she began the crackdown because regular traffic tickets do not provide enough of a deterrent and because electric bikes constitute the "number one complaint" she hears from the public.
The bombshell stats show that these complaints are increasingly unfounded, but the police chief nonetheless doubled down at a Thursday City Council hearing; she claimed that regular traffic tickets were not "creating any changes" in the allegedly reckless cycling that is not causing very many injuries at all.
"Because people on e-bikes generally felt like they lived in a consequence-free environment, we were all seeing widespread mass flouting of the very basic rules that we have in New York City around transportation safety," Tisch told the Council's committees on Public Safety and Finance.
It's not the first time the police tried to data-wash its behavior. Law enforcement reps previously claimed they were responding to a spike in 311 and 911 calls, but later admitted the ticketing strategy actually arose from unquantified complaints at community meetings.
Lawmakers have criticized the Finest and on Thursday again slammed brass for going after cyclists, many of who rely on their two-wheelers for work and must take a day off to appear in court, while drivers get off with a simple ticket that can be paid online.
"It’s not just, it’s not right, and it’s actually quite dangerous," said Tiffany Cabán (D–Astoria). "There are other ways to accomplish these goals that don’t involve criminalization of already vulnerable communities."
Another pol noted that the Department did not discuss the policy with the lawmaking body in advance, similarly to police officials leaving the DOT in the dark.
"I’m not aware of any conversations happening before the change in the policy," said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, who represents parts of the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan.
Mayor Adams defended his department's policy publicly for the first time earlier this week, bizarrely asserting that the city's Vision Zero program launched under former Mayor Bill de Blasio has been too focused on drivers, even after enforcement against motorists declined on his watch.
Tisch repeatedly tried to make the case that she had to amp up enforcement until the city or state "reform" laws around e-bikes, arguing that a $190 fine for ignoring a red light was not enough of a deterrent.
Her central point is that drivers face accountability because they have a license, which can be suspended upon repeat violations, while people on e-bikes do not.
"There is no bite [to] the B summons," the police honcho said. "The B summons is meaningless, certainly virtually meaningless."
But the NYPD has refused to release any proof that cyclists and e-bike riders dodge fines any more than drivers do. That refusal suggests that there is no such data, which also shakes the foundation of Tisch's crackdown.
Advocates called on the city to instead focus on app companies that incentivize speedy delivery trips.
"New Yorkers are clamoring for actual solutions that will increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists alike," said Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas in a statement. "Instead of cracking down on vulnerable delivery workers, NYC should crack down on their bosses — Silicon Valley delivery apps have gone unregulated while they profit off of the chaos on our streets. It's time to protect these exploited workers and reign in these companies."
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"
- May 21: "‘Cart Before Horse’: Upper West Siders Demand NYPD Halt Bike Crackdown"
- May 22: "‘The Biggest Complaint’? The Real Stories Behind NYPD Commissioner Tisch’s Bike Crackdown"
- May 28: "Defending Bike Crackdown, Adams Says Drivers Have Been Targeted ‘Far Too Long’"
- May 29: "Council Outrage Over NYPD Bike Criminalization Grows, But Speaker Adams Is In No Rush"
- May 29: Memo to NYPD Commish Tisch: Drivers Keep Driving, And Killing, on Suspended Licenses
