Friday Video: Now Do Cars
This week, New York’s political class decided to take on e-bikes. The mayor, City Council, and the attorney general all stood behind podiums to address micromobility fears, with barely a mention of the bigger and scarier elephant in the room: cars and trucks.
Mayor Mamdani and Attorney General Letitia James, inspired by Streetsblog’s reporting of the issue, kept their ire focused on the already-illegal e-motos and scooters that can be ordered online. Both are working in their capacity to rid the city of the outlawed, overpowered vehicles while still supporting legal e-bikes. But the City Council announced it would have a sweeping hearing on 17 different legislative proposals focused on e-bikes, including a resolution to push the state to require license plates and registration for even the lowest-speed pedal assist bikes.
No one did the “now do cars” angle better than Alex Duncan, or “Miser,” the leader of reddit’s MicromobilityNYC sub. In this powerful short video, Duncan puts the e-bike hysteria into perspective — e-bikes get people out of cars, and make cities safer in the process.
“If you are concerned about street safety, the number one thing you need to do is find every way in your power to increase the number of bikers and e-bikers and get people out of their cars,” Duncan says in the video.
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