City Politics: E-Bike Regulations and AOC's Path to 2028

**Brian Lehrer** (0:11)
It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. On yesterday's show, we talked with New Yorker writer John Alsop about a word we're hearing a lot these days in the midterm election campaigns, moderate. John's article was called, What does it even mean to be a moderate? Today, we'll talk about another word being used a lot in politics, mostly as an accusation by Republicans these days. That word is woke. The news hook here is AOC distancing herself on TV this week from a period of time she calls woke one. We'll replay that clip and talk to Jasmine Green from The Bullwark, who has a new article about the evolution of the word, what it got wrong, but also right for today. In her opinion, that's coming up second on the show today.
First today, we'll talk about where e-bikes fit into the political rivalry between mayors around Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menon. Maybe the professional and political relationship between Mamdani and Menon is a sign of a functioning local government, you know, a healthy kind of competition. At least in theory, City Council is supposed to provide a check on the mayor and vice versa, right? Mamdani and Menon may represent competing factions within their party. They may disagree over housing vouchers and city-funded grocery stores and other things. On e-bikes though, they are largely aligned, though not entirely, we'll explain. The recent death of a teenage boy riding a legal e-bike without a helmet, no less, has made the issue all the more pressing. It happened very, very close to City Hall, right by the Brooklyn Bridge bike lane exit. Seventeen-year-old Gabriel Nicado killed July 29th on a bike that could hit 30 miles an hour, twice the legal limit in the city for these devices, and Nicado's death is the 12th attributable to e-bikes in New York City, so far this year alone according to city stats. So maybe now there's some momentum building for new kinds of e-bike regulation in a city where they have, of course, become ubiquitous.
Our Liz Kim, who will join us in a minute, writes, the growing political rivalry between Council Speaker Julie Menon and Mayor Zeron Mamdani appears to be adding an accelerant to the effort to, the effort to regulate e-bikes.
A little background on that. Since the crash, Mayor Mamdani has issued cease and desist orders to 42 online retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, Tmoo, selling certain kinds of e-bikes that are illegal to ride in the city, with $2,000 per bike fines kicking in for violators starting August 18th. Speaker Menon has bundled 17 previously-introduced bills into a single legislative package covering everything from vehicle speed limits to delivery app licensing, with a council hearing set for September 30th. Liz Kim's story in Gothamist, originally from the Politics Brief Newsletter, subscribe to that newsletter if you like, had the headline, Will the Mamdani-Mennon rivalry boost regulations of e-bikes in New York City?
Speaking of AOC, who I mentioned in the intro, we'll be talking about later, Liz also has a story about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's political future. She could be gearing up for a run for the presidency, as some of you know, and Liz thinks Abdul El-Sayed's Senate primary win in Michigan may inform AOC's thinking. Liz wrote about that and we'll touch on that as a second part. Of this segment, Liz Kim joins me now. Hey, Liz, always good to have you on.

**Elizabeth Kim** (4:02)
Good morning, Brian.

**Brian Lehrer** (4:04)
And listeners, you're invited on either topic. Let's do e-bikes first, then we'll get to AOC and running for president. If you ride an e-bike or if you've had a close call with one as a pedestrian or regular cyclist, what would actually make you feel safer on these streets?
212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or maybe you're a delivery worker and you don't want to see the city freak out and overregulate you in a way that may put your livelihood at risk or even your immigration status. So anyone with a story or a question about e-bike and more broadly, what we call micro mobility vehicle regulation, you're welcome in with a comment, a story or a question, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, text thread is open, phone lines are open and we'll get to the AOC calls and texts later. Liz, first, when we say e-bikes, is that really a shorthand for a variety of micro mobility vehicles that could also include motorized scooters and maybe more?

**Elizabeth Kim** (5:23)
I think that's right, Brian. I mean, there are a class of vehicles that can go as fast as 40 miles an hour that look like a cross between a bicycle and a moped and sometimes they're labeled e-motos. But I think for shorthand, we often focus on e-scooters and e-bikes because I think also those are the most common ones we've seen on the street.