New York finally legalizes electric bikes and scooters

Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

New York’s status as a stubborn holdout against electric bikes and scooters appears to finally be over. Included in the state’s tentative budget agreement reached on April 1st is a provision that would legalize throttle-based bikes and scooters, which would effectively end the City of New York’s unfair and frustratingly long-running crackdown on immigrant delivery workers.
The budget language almost exactly mirrors a bill that passed the New York State Legislature last year but was inexplicably vetoed at the last minute by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It changes state law to legalize e-bikes and scooters but would give localities the ability to decide for themselves how to regulate the vehicles. Throttle-based e-bikes favored by delivery workers…

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