New York City Council weighs more than 20 e-bike bills, including a sales ban on fast Class 3 models

Under existing New York law, a Class 3 e-bike is legal, capable of assisted speeds up to 25 mph, and requires no license or registration. A bill sponsored by Brooklyn Council Member Crystal Hudson would end its sale and rental in the city, and it sits inside a package of more than 20 micromobility bills that the City Council’s transportation committee is scheduled to take up on Wednesday, September 30.

None of the bills has passed. The hearing is the first public test of an agenda that Council Speaker Julie Menin’s office announced in August, and the count of bills, the penalties and the treatment of riders who already own a Class 3 bike are all still moving.

Intro 244 would ban Class 3 sales and rentals

Hudson’s bill, Intro 244, is titled “Prohibiting the sale and rental of class three bicycles with electric assist.” The Council’s legislative record shows that it would ban distribution, sale, lease and rental of Class 3 e-bikes, take effect 180 days after enactment, and carry civil penalties. A first violation draws no fine, and later violations within two years carry fines of up to $2,000 each. The record lists 26 additional Council Members as co-sponsors.

The penalty structure falls on sellers and renters rather than on people who already own a bike. Electrek’s report on the committee agenda describes a separate Hudson proposal that would bar riding Class 3 bikes in public spaces, and a third measure from Transportation Committee Chair Shaun Abreu that would create a trade-in program, exchanging Class 3 bikes for Class 1 or Class 2 models or for vouchers.

How a package of 20-plus bills gets counted

The figure of more than 20 comes from the press. Gothamist, in its preview of the hearing, reports that the committee will take up over 20 bills covering e-bikes, scooters, mopeds and delivery apps, and Electrek uses the same number. The Council’s own list is shorter. Its August 4 announcement named eight initial proposals and said more were in development, including insurance requirements, trade-in incentives and consumer protections.

Streetsblog’s August 6 tally counted at least 17, so the total appears to have grown between early August and the hearing notice as the sponsors added bills and resolutions. Among them are Intro 950 from Lynn Schulman, requiring delivery services to hold business licenses, Intro 389 from Lincoln Restler on verifying moped registrations, and a proposal for dynamometer testing that would let enforcement measure a vehicle’s real top speed.

Sponsors’ case for the hearing

Menin framed the package around crashes. “Every New Yorker deserves to move around” the city “freely and safely, regardless of how they get around,” the Speaker said in the Council’s announcement, which cites a 31.7 percent rise in e-bike collisions compared with the previous year and points to a May crash on the Queensboro Bridge that killed two people. The announcement was joined by Abreu, Consumer and Worker Protection chair Harvey Epstein and Public Safety chair Oswald Feliz, so three committees have a stake in the outcome.

Abreu, in a Streetsblog piece on September 29, said that “so much of the danger starts at the point of sale,” pointing to misleading marketing of motorcycles and mopeds as legal e-bikes, and put the package’s aim as ensuring “delivery workers do not lose their livelihoods” as the fastest legal class is phased out. Gothamist cites an estimate of 80,000 delivery workers who rely on micromobility vehicles in the city, which is the group most affected if Class 3 bikes leave the market.

What is still undecided after the hearing

A committee hearing is not a vote. Intro 244 is listed in the Council’s system under the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, while the September 30 session is run by the transportation panel with other committees involved, so the bill would still need to clear committee, pass the full Council, and reach the mayor. No source located for this article sets a vote date.

The current rules give a sense of what would change. New York legalized three e-bike classes statewide in 2020: Class 1 pedal-assist up to 20 mph, Class 2 throttle-assist up to 20 mph, and Class 3 assist up to 25 mph, with riders required to be at least 16. Class 3 is the fastest tier the state allows, which is why the Council’s proposals concentrate on it. The city also cut Citi Bike’s assisted speed from 18 mph to 15 mph last year, according to Electrek, a sign that lowering top speeds has already been city policy.

Existing Class 3 owners are the open question. The Legistar text describes a sales and rental ban with a 180-day lead time, and the riding prohibition and trade-in program are separate measures that could change what happens to bikes already on the street. Whether the riding ban advances, and how generous the trade-in vouchers are, will decide if a Class 3 owner can keep using the bike after sales end.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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