12 JANUARY 2, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Cuomo’s e-bike legislation misguided?
Governor Andrew Cuomo likes to
portray himself as a champion
of immigrants and the working
class, and if that were the case, he blew
a golden opportunity to prove it by
choosing to veto legislation from two
Queens lawmakers — State Senator Jessica
Ramos and Assemblywoman Nily
Rozic — that would legalize the use of
electric bikes and scooters across the
state.
Both chambers of the state legislature
voted overwhelmingly in favor of the
bill in June, but in his veto statement,
Cuomo took issue with the absence of
a helmet requirement and other safety
measures.
“Failure to include these basic measures
renders this legislation fatally
fl awed,” Cuomo added.
Why didn’t the governor simply negotiate
with the two Queens lawmakers
to work the language into the bill in the
fi rst place?
By signing the legislation into law,
municipalities like New York City could
legalize e-bikes and provide relief to the
estimated 40,000 food delivery workers
in New York City, many of whom have
been subjected to an on-going NYPD
EDITORIAL
Governor Cuomo vetoed legislation from two Queens lawmakers that would have brought relief to low-income
delivery workers who use e-bikes. Photo by Mark Hallum
crackdown against e-bikes in which delivery
workers are fi ned $500 and many
times have their e-bikes confi scated.
“Our state has failed to help tens of
thousands of New Yorkers who desperately
need relief from the punitive
measures taken against them every
day for merely doing their jobs,” Ramos
said. “New York criminalizes delivery
workers who are merely trying to make
an honest living and slaps them with
thousands of dollars in fi nes, eff ectively
ruining their ability to support themselves
and their families.”
With a stroke of his pen, Cuomo could
have ended one of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
more wrong-headed policies during
his six years at City Hall. The mayor
launched the crackdown on e-bike usage
by delivery workers because he heard
too many complaints during many of
his town halls more than two years ago
without ever presenting statistics that
proved what a danger e-bikes were to
pedestrians.
Cuomo could have made the mayor
look bad, which has become something
of a bloodsport for the governor. But he
didn’t.
A report appeared last month in the
New York Post quoting sources who
said Cuomo was on board with the
legislation until Ramos criticized him
in the New York Times last October in
an article about the State Democratic
Party’s plan to kill third parties in New
York such as the Working Families
Party.
“I honestly have never understood
why it is that, electorally, the governor
cannot seem and act as interested as we
are in having as many Democrats in the
State Legislature as possible,” Ramos
said.
The bill passed by the Senate 56-6
and 137-4 in the Assembly and Cuomo
could have wiped away the mayor’s
ill-conceived crackdowns on low-wage
delivery workers.
That’s not how a champion of immigrants
and the working class rolls.
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY:
See the world’s largest gingerbread
village in Queens
SUMMARY:
The world’s borough is once again
host to the world’s largest Christmas
cookie-made village, which features
1,310 pieces of prime gingerbread real
estate at the New York Hall of Science
in Flushing.
REACH:
9,817 people reached
ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ZACHARY GEWELB
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
ANGELICA ACEVEDO
EMILY DAVENPORT
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
MAX PARROTT
BILL PARRY
© 2020 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC.
General Publication Offi ce: 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361
TELEPHONE: 1-718-260-4535
FAX: 1-718-224-5441
E-MAIL: editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com
WEB SITE: www.qns.com
ON TWITTER @ridgewoodtimes
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
FOR 110 YEARS
COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving
ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This
newspaper is responsible for only one incorrect insertion
and only for that portion of the ad in which the error
appears. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make
sure copy does not contravene the Consumer Protection
Law or any other requirement. TIMES NEWSWEEKLY Is
Listed With The Standard Rate & Data And Is A Member
Of The New York Press Association
/WWW.QNS.COM
/www.qns.com
link
/www.qns.com
link
