Friday’s Headlines: E-Bikes in Parks … Permanently Edition

The Parks Department plans to permanently allow e-bikes in city parks, following a two-year pilot, officials announced on Thursday.

The rule change, which amNewYork first reported, will allow the same electric bikes and standup scooters inside parks as outside on city streets, however mopeds and other “heavy vehicles” will continue to be banned.

"Our greenways and park drives connect New Yorkers to our citywide network of parks and greenspaces. 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,” said Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa in a press release. “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.”

E-bike riders have long used park drives and paths, but agency only began officially allowing the devices on a trial basis in June 2023, and renewed its one-year pilot for another 12 months in 2024.

Cyclists and people on e-bikes often rely on park facilities for transportation, like greenways – especially in parts of the city with no other safe street infrastructure.

But critics have tried to push e-bikes back off the city lawns, including a sizable share of the City Council. Twenty lawmakers signed onto a bill by Queens Republican Vickie Paladino last year to prohibit the devices, but the proposal went nowhere fast.

The announcement comes after an cyclist and a person on an electric unicycle collided in Central Park last week, injuring the latter rider critically.

Meanwhile, Mayor Adams has also worked overtime to make life harder for e-bike riders, deploying the NYPD to give out thousands of criminal court summonses for low-level traffic infractions, while rolling out plans to cap their max speeds at 15 miles per hour.

The Parks Department will adopt its policy change after putting it through the city's public rulemaking process, but an agency spokesman declined to give a timeline.

Reporting from Kevin Duggan

In other news:

• Cops finally arrested the hit-and-run driver who killed a pedestrian on Bedford Avenue last fall, right before the city installed protected bike lanes and safety upgrades at the location. (Daily News)
• But the carnage continues: A hit-and-run driver killed a pedestrian under the elevated tracks on New Utrecht Avenue on Sunday. (BoroPark24)
• A public park will be closed to most of the public for Fourth of July fireworks tonight. (NY1)
• The 31st Avenue bike boulevard is a marvel:

• A driver and passenger are "on the run" after hitting six pedestrians in the Bronx. (NBC New York)
• Bloomberg and the Times, welcome to the "Zohran Mamdani free buses" beat.
• NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch won't fire a cop who shot and killed a man during a traffic stop over a seatbelt. (NY Times)
• Let amNY tell you everything you need to know about subway advertising.
• Street homelessness is on the rise. (Gothamist)
• In case you forgot, the New Jersey Turnpike widening is still a terrible idea: