Despite promises from Mayor Bill de Blasio that his crackdown on e-bikes wouldn't hurt "the little guy," the NYPD has continued to issue fines to delivery workers, instead of the businesses they work for. Six weeks ago the department issued a memo to its uniformed officers, directing them to follow the letter of the law and cite the restaurants, not the workers themselves.
The directive, dated November 20th, tells NYPD officers to interview the rider of a motorized scooter or throttle-powered e-bike (pedal-assisted e-bikes are legal) and determine if they are using it for work or personal reasons. If they're a working cyclist, the officer is supposed to find the address of their employer and "Respond to business location if within a reasonable distance." Failing that, officers are required to mail a summons to the business.
City law explicitly states that employers are "liable" for the $500 e-bike fines their workers get, but the NYPD previously argued that the delivery workers often don't wear the required reflective vests that bear the name and address of their employers, or refuse to tell NYPD officers where they work, making it more difficult to cite businesses.
