New York City is holding a public hearing on Mayor Adams's controversial proposal to cap e-bike speed-limits at 15 mph. People can file a written comment until 5 p.m.

https://lemmy.world/post/32943819

New York City is holding a public hearing on Mayor Adams's controversial proposal to cap e-bike speed-limits at 15 mph. People can file a written comment until 5 p.m. 📢 - Lemmy.World

>New York City’s streets will become more dangerous with fewer people choosing to ride bicycles if Mayor Adams forges ahead with his 15-mile-per-hour speed limit for e-bikes, a former top city transportation policy official warned. >More than 300 people have already voiced their thoughts on the city’s online comment page — largely in opposition — including Michael Replogle, a former Department of Transportation policy director for six years under Mayor Bill de Blasio and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. >The speed cap will put cyclists in danger by forcibly slowing them down next to drivers in multi-ton SUVs and trucks, who cause virtually all traffic deaths and injuries, according to DOT data. >Motorists are to blame for virtually all traffic violence, but they will still be able to go up to 35 mph under Mayor Adams’s scheme – since speed cameras don’t issue violations until they exceed the city’s posted 25 mph speed limit by 10 mph. >Mayor Adams has peddled the lower speed limits arguing that the Vision Zero policy he inherited from his predecessor had focused on cars for “far too long,” despite car and truck drivers being responsible for 99.96 percent of reported traffic injuries [https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/06/10/now-do-cars-adams-and-council-push-for-e-bike-speed-limits-ignores-the-biggest-danger] https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/07/03/ex-dot-official-warns-nycs-counterproductive-e-bike-speed-limit-will-curb-biking-safety [https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/07/03/ex-dot-official-warns-nycs-counterproductive-e-bike-speed-limit-will-curb-biking-safety]

This feels like it’s purposefully designed to kneecap the adoption of e-bikes by rendering all class 1 and 2 e-bikes illegal and making it harder/more expensive to buy new ones because they have to have bespoke detuning for the NYC market.
Do you live or work there? I see ebikes being used on sidewalks by delivery guys all the time. Limiting speeds makes sense for NYC IMO
My lowly non-NYCer opinion is that that sounds like a reason to crack down on sidewalk riding, rather than the speed.
Why not both?
For the reasons I outlined in my previous comment: forcing NYC e-bikes to be governed to a different speed than e-bikes everywhere else in the country (thus requiring selling a separate NYC-specific model) would be bad for e-bike adoption.