FULL INTERVIEW: NYC e-bike enforcement, horse carriage ban, bank vandalism

This morning, continue to grow over the rise of illegal high-speed e-bikes and e-scooters. Crashes in the city have injured both and killed pedestrians and riders recently. And it's on the rise. You keep hearing now more and more injuries and deaths, sadly. This morning, we have exclusive video of a new innovative technology that would test the speed capacity of e-bikes and get illegal devices off the streets. It's here to talk about it and how to get it to the five boroughs. Our city council speaker, Julie Menin, and majority leader, Sean Abreu. Nice to have you both here. Speaker, tell us about this technology. Well, thanks for having us. We're so excited about this because we would be the first city in the country to have this new technology that basically tests how fast these devices are going and gets these illegal devices off the streets. Other cities like London and Amsterdam are doing this, And this would give law enforcement the tools they need to be able to measure these illegal devices because it's very difficult to tell the legal from the illegal. So we really want to get the illegal devices off the street, get them confiscated, keep New Yorkers safe. Majority Leader, tell us how it works. What does it look like, and is it easy, I guess, for police to take out and use? So the dynamometer is the size of a treadmill. It is also very, very portable, which means that it's easy for NYPD to use. And the way that it works is you put your bike on the treadmill-like device, the dynamometer, and it tests for the top speed and the top power of the device. And if it goes beyond the legal limit after revving the engine, it gets confiscated. It's that simple. And so we have seen for far too long prior administrations, prior speakers trying to get to the bottom of this. But under Speaker Julie Menin, we're finally getting it done. And getting it done, but still has a ways to go because this is not a done deal. What has to happen now, and is there a cost associated with bringing some of these things in? Well, it's not a done deal, but basically it will be because we are going to pass this bill. We have huge support within the city council to have regulation and more enforcement around e-bikes. And so we had a hearing where we heard 23 different bills, and this is one of the bills we're looking to pass and really be the first city in the country to make sure we're getting these illegal devices off the streets. There have been too many people who've died from these e-bike and e-scooter, 28 so far this year. It's simply not acceptable. And Majority Leader, can we just talk about some of those numbers a little more? Because it seems like every week we sort of start to hear about either an accident or some kind of fatal injury. I mean, what do we know about how bad the situation has gotten in certain areas of the city? You know, the issue is, and I was sort of getting into it earlier, is that we have seen the use of micromobility expand significantly in our city, but policy hasn't caught up. And so the proliferation of these devices needs to be met with policy, and the lack thereof from prior government administrations has led to this issue. And so now we're taking action because we have seen we saw a young boy named Gabriel Nakato, who was riding an illegal device that was marketed that was falsely advertised as legal, which was not true and safe, which was also not true. And so we know that there are a lot of people out there who are being duped into buying these devices, but also people who are knowingly buying illegal devices, too. And we have to find a way. Something has got to give. And so we have to find a way to get these devices. So, Speaker, I know you talk about that you have some support, a lot of support within the city council. Where is Albany? Why aren't we talking about registering these bikes? I mean, they go faster than cars on New York City streets. So I support registration at the state level. That's exactly what the state of New Jersey recently did because the city, of course, we don't control the DMV. The state does. So I fully support a registration system at the state level. And so I think those conversations are ongoing. It's something I think should happen. It would increase the safety, but it has to happen at the state level. You know, we had somebody who wrote in to the station yesterday knowing that you were going to be here. And they said, you know, one person died in a horse carriage incident, and you're going to ban the whole industry. Twenty-eight people died from bike accidents in New York City. And we don't hear a peep about what's going to go on with that. I mean, it's the Wild West. Well, we're doing all of them. We need to do it all. And that's why on Thursday we are voting on the horse carriage ban because of Romance passed away, a young man. Don't we have young people who pass away? Absolutely. And that's why we're going to do e-bikes as well. We had our e-bike hearing several months ago. We're now looking to pass 23 different bills, everything from licensing third-party delivery apps because we need to license them. That's very important to bring, whether it's Uber Eats or DoorDash, under regulatory control. we've got a bill to require insurance uh that's very important because we you know we know that that's an important issue we have this dynamometer that we're working on now today which is really exciting so 23 different bills we understand the frustration new yorkers have and that's why this city council is acting so we're doing both just staying on the horse carriages just for a second majority leader because they're we've heard from the industry very worried about the jobs they say These are many immigrant-based businesses sometimes. And there's legislation that's a part of this that would help them try to find jobs, but there's no guarantee here. And people are very worried about that. Look, we have tasked the administration to coming up with a plan. And we also have a plan as well for a job transition as well. And so we're going to be looking forward to that plan. We know we have to get rid of this industry, but there will be job protections. There will be transitions for new opportunities as well. And that's baked into the legislation. But how do you, Council Speaker, how do you, I mean, there's people who could lose their livelihoods. Absolutely. So we beefed up the worker protection language in the bill to really make sure that every single worker is getting a job, whether that be in the hospitality industry, whether that be a city job, whether it be in animal welfare. We strengthened the language on worker protection because we absolutely agree. We know these workers have given their life to this industry, and we want to make sure that they are protected. Same with the medallion owners. So under the new version of the bill, it really requires that there be these strong worker protections, protections for the medallion owners, because they have a right as well. And so that is why we spent the time to really beef up the bill. Before you go, yesterday I know you were in front of a bank on the Upper East Side, which may be the target of, you know, anti-Semitic hate. And there's now reports that possibly the same group is behind destroying tap and pays in Brooklyn subway station. Do we know anything new on this? Any new info? So we've talked to the NYPD about the bank branch incident. It's, you know, this kind of vandalism is simply unacceptable. They are actively investigating it. We look forward to the results of their investigation and now this new information about what's happening with the Omni system. Can I just ask one last question about the initial thing that we were talking about with the e-bikes and the dynamometer? Dynamometer. Dynamometer. I mean, that thing looks like a... It's big. It looks like a treadmill. Who's actually going to carry that around, and who's enforcing this? I mean, is this a new thing that the NYPD is going to have to do, or is there some kind of task force or something like that? The goal is for the NYPD to use it, and they should be. This is a very portable device. I was able to carry it myself from City Hall and move it. But do you work out? I mean, are you bringing this thing? Is it part? No, I'm okay, but go ahead. I'm sorry. I work out infrequently, I would say. Best job. But I would say that it's very easy to carry around. And we need to get these illegal, dangerous devices off our streets. Something has got to give. Well, also, it's got to be registered. But the problem is this, is that the transportation alternatives, which is backed by Lyft and Uber, which puts a lot of money in a lot of politicians' pockets, is, you know, part of the problem, as we know. Well, I will say with this dynamometer, what's so exciting is the city of London did a pilot program. They got over 200 illegal devices off the streets in two days. So this is really revolutionary and transformative. We are so excited to have this new technology and really do a bill that is going to require it. A lot on the agenda, certainly this Thursday. The horse carriage legislation is going to be a big day. I'm sure we'll hear from you again right around then.