PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Anne McDermott, Member of the Public, on E-bike and Micromobility Safety Concerns
4:05:53
·
135 sec
Anne McDermott, a lifelong cyclist and licensed NYC tour guide, testifies about safety concerns related to e-bikes and other motorized vehicles in New York City. She describes personal experiences of feeling unsafe as a pedestrian due to reckless e-bike riders and expresses frustration with the lack of enforcement of traffic laws for these vehicles.
- Highlights the danger of crossing Second Avenue due to delivery bikes that don't stop for red lights
- Mentions observing e-bikes and motorized vehicles riding through City Hall Park without consequence
- Recounts a threatening encounter with an electric scooter rider on the sidewalk
- Calls for action to address the "free-for-all" of e-bikes and motorized vehicles in the city
Anne McDermott
4:05:53
-Hello.
4:05:53
My name is Anne McDermott.
4:05:55
I was born and raised in this town and I'm I'm been a cyclist all my life.
4:05:59
I'm also a licensed New York City tour guide.
4:06:02
Somebody said you can't license in New York City earlier.
4:06:05
They're wrong because this is a license and it comes from one of your agencies.
4:06:09
Any case, I do to, I currently live reside on the Upper East Side at 82nd Street and Second Avenue.
4:06:15
Every night when I come home and get off the Q train at 83rd street and second avenue, I am literally afraid to cross second avenue fearing the parade of delivery bikes that never stop for a light and often don't have any headlights themselves.
4:06:31
I have had many near misses with bikes going 25 miles an hour down second avenue.
4:06:37
I also use that bike lane myself, but most of the vehicles are not actual bicycles, They're motorized e bikes, scooters, or motorcycles.
4:06:46
As a New York City tour guide, I actually do tours that begin right behind this building on Broadway and Warren Street and I often see motorized e bikes and vehicles going directly through city hall park here with impunity.
4:07:03
They are they never stop, they are never questioned, just mixing with tourists and pedestrians while going 20 miles an hour towards the Brooklyn Bridge.
4:07:12
I recently broke my left arm.
4:07:15
Coming home from the doctor with my left arm in a sling, minding my own business, walking up east, the east side of third Avenue between 81st and 80th Street, a very narrow street due to the, taking over the sidewalk by Eli's grocery store, a young man came careening down past me on an electric scooter going about 15 miles an hour and I just said very loudly, not on the sidewalk.
4:07:41
I feared for my life after having just had surgery, orthopedic surgery.
4:07:46
He then threatened me and said, I'll break your other arm.
4:07:51
Often there are delivery people going in any direction they want on my block, East 82nd Street.
4:07:56
The city is devolving into a totally free total free for all with e bikes and motorized vehicles running the show and the rest of us cowering at the corners
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
4:08:03
Thank you.
Anne McDermott
4:08:04
Waiting for a time to to cross.
4:08:06
Please do something.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
4:08:07
Thank you.
