Mayor Mamdani said cyclists should not be getting criminal summonses, but he stopped short on Tuesday of saying he would call off the NYPD's ongoing crackdown against two-wheelers.
The new mayor said he is still having "conversations" about his NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch's controversial policy, when asked twice by Streetsblog at a press conference at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge in Manhattan.
He did say that his administration will focus on redesigning streets so that safe riding does not require cyclists to break the law, as it does at the Manhattan end of the Williamsburg Bridge, where cops have nabbed cyclists confused by the chaotic street design.
"These are part of the conversations that we’re having," Mamdani said. "In addition to the question of what kind of a summons, we also have to make it easier to be a cyclist in compliance with the law, because I will tell you that you will find a cyclist biking on a pavement, and sometimes when you ask them why they’re doing so, they’ll point to the car that’s driving in the bike lane.
"We have created infrastructure issues for cyclists that we are then ticketing them for, where it is easier to be out of compliance with the law than in compliance with the law," the mayor added.
Last spring, Tisch under former Mayor Eric Adams unleashed cops to issue criminal summonses to e-bike riders and cyclists for infractions like running red lights or riding the wrong way, while still giving regular traffic tickets to motorists for the same offenses.
Mamdani, who kept Tisch on the job, on Monday reiterated a campaign position, telling Newsday that criminal summonses were not the way to go. But he has yet to tell the top cop to change course.
Tisch's summons spree has led to bizarre and violent arrests of cyclists and e-bike riders, and ensnared thousands of New Yorkers in the criminal justice system for violations that previously were subject to a traffic ticket they could pay online. The tactics raised particular concerns among delivery workers who rely on e-bikes, and many of whom are immigrants.
The Williamsburg Bridge's Manhattan end has been a hotspot for police stings for years, due to its narrow entrance ramp where Brooklyn-bound riders are supposed to make a sharp turn around a horseshoe-shaped wall.
The police blitz has continued apace with new cases coming to court as recently as last week, said Peter Beadle, an attorney who recently represented two e-bike riders.
Beadle supports Mamdani's focus on improving infrastructure like the Williamsburg Bridge, but called on City Hall to ditch the crackdown, arguing that it violates New Yorkers' Constitutional rights because they're subject to harsher enforcement on a bike than in a car.
"The policy definitely should end. It’s an equal protection violation," Beadle told Streetsblog. "The clients that call me they’re afraid of their job applications, they’re afraid of immigration issues."
Another advocate also urged Mamdani to end the Adams-era war on bikes.
"If the cops show up and do the stupid ticket trap thing again its going to look like a pretty weak stunt," said Jon Orcutt, director of advocacy for Bike New York who was a DOT official in the Bloomberg administration.
The summons bonanza was top of mind for cyclists passing by the press event on Tuesday afternoon as well.
"There’s sometimes cops posted up here to give you tickets just for biking – that sucks," said Omar, a Lower East Side resident. "[If] they can do something about that, then more people ride the bikes and then less pollution in the air because they won’t be taking cars and all that stuff."
The NYPD declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Sophia Lebowitz
