Intro 606, a new bill introduced by Queens City Council Member Robert Holden, seeks to regulate e-bikes and similar motorized vehicles by requiring them to be licensed and registered.
The bill, also known as ‘Priscilla’s Law’, is named after Priscilla Loke, a 69-year-old woman who was killed after being struck by an e-bike in Manhattan's Chinatown in September of 2023. Holden and other supporters of the legislation say it will improve street safety for all.
Delivery workers and their advocates argue that e-bike registration would complicate their jobs, as they already face excessive ticketing and pressure from customers and delivery apps to deliver as quickly as possible.
“It would affect us a lot because we would become more of a target," said Antonio Martinez, a delivery worker who works with Los Deliveristas Unidos, a Williamsburg-based nonprofit organization that supports delivery workers. “They give us a lot of tickets, just today some people got five, six, seven tickets while riding their bicycles.”
Many of the delivery workers the nonprofit works with are immigrants. The organization feels a law like this could put their residency at risk. “Knowing that there are thousands of delivery workers, mostly, I can't say all, but mostly they are immigrants and workers of color,” said Luis Cortes, director of Los Deliveristas Unidos. “They will be an easy target for the police and provide a greater excuse to stop, question and enforce this law.”
Holden and supporters of the bill spoke at a City Council hearing in December. New York City residents were encouraged to send testimonies to his office, which are now being reviewed and sent to Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers, the chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
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