Why were e-bikes banned in New York?

E-bikes were banned until 2020

• New York is generally a city that welcomes innovation. Yet one thing allowed everywhere else was mysteriously banned here until 2020: the e-bike. Stranger still, New York law allowed you to own an e-bike—just not to ride it on the streets and avenues of New York.
• Why the ban? City Hall considered e-bikes dangerous. The mayor at the time, Bill de Blasio, backed the decision with complaints from neighborhood boards across the city.
• In late 2017, the mayor announced that police would step up enforcement. If caught riding an e-bike, you could face a fine of up to $500. One Brooklyn precinct even carried out a confiscation operation in October 2017.

New York finally allows e-bikes

• The ban didn’t stop some New Yorkers and delivery companies from using e-bikes anyway. Gradually, they became a common sight on city streets. A visitor who came in March 2019 told us in the comments below that he spotted plenty of e-bikes, even though they were technically illegal at the time.
• Faced with growing demand, the New York City Council gave in: in June 2020, it voted to legalize e-bikes. The city followed New York State, which had legalized them on April 1, 2020. The city set a speed limit of 40 km/h (25 mph) for e-bikes and 32 km/h (20 mph) for electric scooters in New York.
• The new law sparked an explosion in e-bike and scooter use—you’ll see them everywhere now. If you want to rent a bike in New York, rental shops have added e-bikes to their fleets. Just remember that traffic is heavy, so stay alert.