The Big Apple can be rotten to the core when it comes to cycling. While Central Park is a gem, and is one of the things this reporter misses from his time in New York City, little else can be said about biking there. The city had in recent years attempted to put the best wheel forward – but then last month City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) suggested that all cyclists in NYC get license and register their bikes.
Now not to be outdone, State Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Queens) had introduced legislation in the state assembly that would require every bicycle in the state to have a license plate reports Gothamist. A license plate! Yes, a license plate, which would no doubt look great on those $3000+ bikes regularly ridden in Central Park and across the George Washington Bridge. DenDekker has since backpedaled and withdrawn the bill, but could future bills be in the works?
This also begs the question what would it mean for those from New Jersey who ride into New York City, as well as anyone who brings their bikes to the Big Apple to ride.
While this is a dead issue now, let’s recap what DenDekker actually suggested, which included two bills. The first would have required “annual registration of personal bicycles and provides for a license plate fee of $25 for the first year and $5 for every year thereafter,” and to get the plate, riders would need to have their bikes inspected! By whom we don’t know of course. The second bill sounded just as Draconian. It would required every commercial cyclist in the state to carry identification and have insurance, with an initial fee of $50.
DenDekker also says this isn’t about the money – although it could have brought the state up to $1,875,000 in the first year alone. Rather, it is about “ensuring personal protection for cases such as bicycle theft or bicycle accidents,” said DenDekker according to Gothamist. “With a recent high increase in bike use on roads, rising from 30% in 1980, and doubling to 60% just ten years later, it is essential that the state of New York be able to identify the bicycle riders.”
We at KineticShift.com are relieved to know that this bill is dead, but think this would in essence destroy the cycling community in New York City. It would destroy the small business shop owners, and it would encourage people to get a car, partially so they could drive out of the city to ride their bikes. And since it doesn’t address cyclists from New Jersey it would cause those people to drive in to the city rather than commute on bikes. Once more New York City and the State of New York find a way of making it a less desirable place to live.
[Via Gothamist: State Law Would Require Bicycle Licenses for All New Yorkers]
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the registration of commercial bicycles and requires casualty insurance for such bicycles