Mayor Mamdani Won't Discuss The Ongoing NYPD Criminal Bike Crackdown That Candidate Mamdani Opposed - Streetsblog New York City

"The 16-day mayor, who previously had criticized his predecessor's policy, has declined repeatedly to give a straight answer about the policy - which Streetsblog has confirmed is ongoing despite Mamdani's promise to lead a bike-friendly administration. Reporters have unsuccessfully asked Mamdani several times in the past two weeks to clarify his police department's policy. When pressed for a least the fourth time on Friday, Mamdani again declined to answer "yes" or "no," instead promising to "follow up" on the matter."

""This is one of the focuses of the work that we are doing, is living up to the commitment that I've made where a cyclist should not be facing a criminal summons, they should be facing a civil summons," Mamdani told Newsday's Matthew Chayes at an unrelated stop in Jackson Heights. "And here, on Day 16, it's one of the things I'm going to follow up on.""

"Mamdani's chronic and inexplicable reticence to clarify the policy under his watch is particularly alarming because it came just two day after the commanding officer of the Seventh Precinct in Manhattan told the public that his officers continued to issue criminal summons to cyclists on the notoriously congested Delancey Street - where Streetsblog indeed recently spotted a sting. "We're still focusing on the e-bikes along Delancey Street," Captain Jayson Evert told the attendees of a Jan. 14 community council meeting."

Mayor Mamdani has repeatedly declined to directly confirm whether the NYPD is still issuing criminal summonses to cyclists, instead promising to "follow up." He stated that cyclists should receive civil rather than criminal summonses, yet refused a yes-or-no answer when pressed. Two days earlier, the commanding officer of Manhattan's Seventh Precinct said officers continued issuing criminal summonses on Delancey Street, specifically targeting e-bikes. Police activity on Delancey included a sting observed by reporters. Reporters have repeatedly requested clarification from the mayor about the enforcement policy without receiving a definitive response.

Read at Streetsblog