New York City is cracking down on unsafe and illegal e-bike activity while expanding legal micromobility access in public parks, officials announced this month.
Mayor Adams and Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on July 7 unveiled the new Department of Sustainable Delivery, an enforcement-focused division within the DOT aimed at regulating the growing use of e-bikes, e-scooters and mopeds tied to app-based delivery services.
The department will conduct enforcement against illegal moped, e-bike and e-scooter riding; oversee safety compliance; crack down on reckless riding; and hold delivery apps accountable for setting unsafe expectations for their workers, the city said.
The DSD, backed by $6.1 million in funding from the city’s 2026 budget and housed within the DOT, will hire up to 45 peace officers trained to issue moving violations and enforce commercial cycling laws.
The officers will be unarmed and work in teams, including units on e-bikes, targeting high-risk areas across the city. They will work in conjunction with the NYPD and the DOT’s Vision Zero Street Team.
“Our administration continues to make the safety of every New Yorker our number one priority, and that includes keeping everyone on our streets safe, including pedestrians and bicyclists,” Adams said.
He added that the new department is “yet another step that we’re taking to support delivery workers, keep pedestrians safe, and hold delivery app companies accountable for placing unrealistic expectations on their workers that put New Yorkers in harm’s way.”
Adams also renewed his call for the City Council to pass legislation that would empower the city to hold big delivery apps accountable for incentivizing reckless e-bike riding by forcing workers to make unreasonably fast deliveries, and allow the apps’ licenses to be revoked over continued non-compliance.
Four days earlier, on July 3, city Parks Department Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa announced an initiative aimed at adapting the city’s green spaces to accommodate the surge in micromobility use. The agency intends to propose rule amendments to allow the same e-bikes and stand-up e-scooters permitted in city bike lanes to operate on park drives and greenways.
The proposed rule changes follow a two-year pilot that allowed legal e-bikes and scooters in locations such as Manhattan’s Central and Prospect Park loops, and Brooklyn’s Waterfront Greenway. Parks said it will continue collecting public feedback to identify areas for safety improvements and enforcement.
Mopeds and other heavier motorized vehicles will remain banned in parks, the agency said.
“Our greenways and park drives connect New Yorkers to our citywide network of parks and greenspaces. It’s critically important that our public realm can safely accommodate the diverse ways that New Yorkers get around and enjoy our city’s public spaces,” Rodriguez-Rosa said. “We are focused on improving safety in our parks, and allowing the same e-bikes and e-scooters that are allowed in city bike lanes on our park drives and greenways would make our city safer and more accommodating for pedestrians, cyclists, and e-mobility users alike.”
Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of the Worker’s Justice Project and co-founder of Los Deliveristas Unidos, in a statement said opening up greenways and park drives to e-bikes and e-scooters is a critical step forward.
“When our infrastructure supports safe, dignified work for those powering our economy, it benefits everyone—creating a more accessible, sustainable, and worker-friendly city,” Guallpa said.