Nassau County Pols Push to Overturn Blakeman E-Bike Ban

Nassau County legislators want to explicitly legalize e-bikes after the police department under Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman used old, confusing rules for ATVs to impound them.

The legislation — announced April 28 — would legalize Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes in the New York City suburb, overriding the obscure 2006 county law cops have cited to effectively “ban” the vehicles.

“People are trying to get to work, get to the train station, and support their families. They should not have to fear that the affordable transportation they rely on could be seized or that they will be hit with unfair fines because Nassau County has failed to modernize an outdated law,” said County Legislator Olena Nicks (D-Uniondale), the bill’s sponsor.

“This is the future of transportation, and Nassau County should not be stuck in the past.”

When the Nassau County Police Department announced the ban in March, police officials cited Nassau County Miscellaneous Law Title 61, the 2006 law passed to limit ATV use, and the 2020 state law that legalized e-bikes as justification.

Nicks’s bill would clarify that the state law applies in Nassau County. The state law created three classifications outside of New York City: Class 1 e-bikes have an electric assist that is only activated by pedaling, Class 2 e-bikes can be controlled with a throttle and both have a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. Class 3 e-bikes are strictly pedal-assist and have a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour.

The 2020 law allowed individual jurisdictions to set their own rules for regulating e-bikes, creating a patchwork of laws that makes it difficult for e-bike users to cross city and town borders and a loophole for Nassau PD to override the aforementioned state guidelines.

One man, who lives in New York City in Rosedale, Queens, rode an e-scooter to nearby Lynnbrook in Nassau County. When he crossed the city-county line, Nassau PD stopped him and confiscated his bike.

“It’s not fair to the user,” said the man’s attorney, Daniel Flanzig.

Another of Flanzig’s clients, Carmine Macchia, had his class 2 e-bike confiscated and impounded by Nassau police last month after cops pull him over just around the corner from his house. The officers said they advise county residents to sell their e-bikes, Macchia told Streetsblog. He described the ordeal as “embarrassing” and called the crackdown on e-bikes “ridiculous.”

“I wont be riding that bike until there is some clarification of the law,” he said. “In theory I could disconnect the throttle and make it Class 1, but I wouldn’t trust the police to know the difference or to not stop me.”

Nick’s bill has the co-sponsorship of six other Democrats on the Nassau Legislature, where Republicans hold an 11-8 majority.

State law allows “any city, town or village” to ban the use of e-bikes — but not counties, and Flanzig argues that that language makes Nassau PD’s actions illegal.

“The way I look at this, they can’t do something inconsistent with the [state Vehicle and Traffic law], and counties can’t do this county wide,” he said.

The crackdown adds costs for e-bike riders. After cops seized Macchia’s bike, officers told him to go to the precinct the next day to retrieve it. When he got there, he was informed that his bike has been taken to A1 Grand Auto Body in New Hyde Park, where he was charged $125 for towing and $20 for each day it was held.

Macchia’s bike was a folding bike that can be picked up easily, but an employee at the body shop told him that county rules require bikes get towed in a flat bed truck. The price is the same for towed cars.

While Macchia retrieved his bike, the body shop had a lot of confiscated e-bikes and did not have any system in place to ensure he took the right one, he said.

The legislation introduced on Monday by county lawmakers came in direct response to Macchia’s experience.

“These residents can be treated like they are doing something wrong, simply because Nassau County does not want to modernize its code, and it makes no sense at all,” said Nicks. “E-bikes and scooters help our residents save on gas, parking, tolls and on other car expenses. They reduce traffic on our roads, and they provide mobility for our seniors, our students, our workers, and everyday residents who may not be able to own a car at all.”

Nassau Republicans have not signaled support for the new legislation. Blakeman defended the crackdown during a visit to Albany on Monday — without providing any data to back up his claim that e-bike riders like Macchia were, in his words, “creating havoc.”

“They’re creating havoc, and they’re creating a dangerous situation for people who are pedestrians, for people who are in motor vehicles and, most importantly, for themselves,” he said.

With Austin Jefferson