E-bike Crash Victims Sue Mamdani Over Enforcement Policy

Around 30 people, many of them older New Yorkers, stood outside City Hall on the morning of June 25 under the blazing sun, listening as one speaker after another described how collisions with e-bikes had changed their lives.

The rally came as watchdog group NYC Common Sense announced a lawsuit against Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, arguing that an executive order he signed in March improperly relaxed criminal enforcement of certain e-bike traffic violations.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn the policy, which replaced criminal summonses for certain e-bike traffic offenses such as running a red light or driving the wrong way with civil summonses. Plaintiffs argue the mayor exceeded his authority by making the change, saying only the City Council and state Legislature—not the mayor—can alter how those laws are enforced.

Among the plaintiffs was Walter Matuza, who is legally blind. He said commuting from Staten Island to his job in Manhattan has become increasingly stressful because of fast-moving e-bikes. “Coming to Manhattan every day is quite the feat because you’ve got these bikes that come flying by,” Matuza said. “My reaction time isn’t that fast.”

Matuza said he joined the lawsuit not only for himself but for others with disabilities. “Let’s keep fighting, and let’s get this law changed,” he said.

”The mayor’s power does not include ignoring public safety,” said Jim Walden, chairman of NYC Common Sense. Walden said the lawsuit challenges what the plaintiffs contend is the mayor’s authority to effectively suspend enforcement of laws enacted by the City Council and state Legislature.

Other plaintiffs spoke about lasting injuries they say were caused by reckless e-bike riders.

Wendy Peace, who described herself as both a cyclist and a pedestrian, said she was riding legally in a bike lane when a Citi Bike rider traveling the wrong direction hit her head-on. “I somersaulted over the handlebars,” Peace said.

While being treated, she said ambulance crews told her e-bike crashes had become a routine part of their work. “This is what we see all day long—e-bikes hitting people, e-bikes hitting cyclists.”

She argued that cyclists should face meaningful consequences for dangerous behavior. “We have that responsibility to pedestrians and other cyclists,” she said. “Laws hold people accountable.”

Rita Rosencranz, a literary agent, said she was walking with her nephew in Riverside Park last August when a Citi Bike rider struck them from behind. She suffered four fractures in her upper arm and later underwent surgery to insert a titanium plate and nine screws.

The rider gave her a phone number, saying he would retrieve a car and take her to CityMD. After waiting about 10 minutes on a nearby bench, she and her nephew discovered the number was invalid. “There is no recourse except to tell my story and hope for legislation that leads to stricter laws and accountability,” Rosencranz said.

Organizers also argued that official crash statistics significantly undercount injuries. Janet Schroeder, president of the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, said many victims are transported directly to hospitals without filing police reports.

”We have 128 e-vehicle violence victims in EVSA,” she said. “Nine have police reports, so that means only nine show up in the DOT stats.”

''So 95 percent of these serious accidents literally do not count,” she added.

The alliance has also been among the most vocal opponents of the city’s proposed two-way protected bike lane on West 72nd Street.

Valerie Mason, president of the East 72nd Street Neighborhood Association, said residents should not have to sue the city to enforce existing laws. “This is about citizens not having to go to court to enforce laws that are already in place to protect public safety,” Mason said.

Mason, who also serves as chair of Community Board 8 but said she was speaking only as a private citizen called for more enforcement. “We need enforcement,” she said. “The Police Department should have the right to enforce the laws that we already have.”

Council Member Frank Morano, who joined the lawsuit in his personal capacity, said the legal challenge is ultimately about the rule of law. “This lawsuit is about whether the law means what it says,” Morano said. “If a mayor doesn’t like a law, the answer is to change it—not pretend that it doesn’t exist.”

Morano said he has introduced or co-sponsored legislation requiring registration for e-bikes, lowering speed limits and strengthening accountability, but emphasized that existing laws should continue to be enforced. “Public safety is not a war on e-bikes,” he said. “It’s a defense of pedestrians.”

When the policy was announced in March, the mayor’s office said replacing criminal summonses with civil summonses for low-level traffic offenses would “ensure accountability” while ending what it called “a punitive system that has disproportionately burdened working New Yorkers.”

Bike advocates argued the previous system unfairly subjected cyclists and e-bike riders to criminal summonses for low-level traffic violations that typically resulted only in traffic tickets for motorists. Some also worried that requiring riders to appear in criminal court, rather than resolve violations through civil summonses, could expose immigrant delivery workers to immigration enforcement.

Mayor Mamdani said the administration would work with the City Council to strengthen safety standards, hold app companies accountable and expand training for delivery riders.

Responding to the lawsuit Thursday, the administration declined to comment on the pending litigation but defended its broader approach to street safety.

“While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we know that generally, Vision Zero has brought traffic deaths to historic lows, with overall injuries for pedestrians, as well as riders of e-bikes, mopeds, and stand-up scooters trending down,” Deputy Press Secretary Jeremy Edwards said in a statement.

“Still, there is more work to be done to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers and the Mamdani administration will be doubling down on efforts to redesign roads while also working to remove illegal devices from our streets.”

The suit, which was filed June 24, is currently being processed in the Richmond County Supreme Court.