State bill to legalize AOC reinforces deal
e-bikes introduced Says her ‘Green’ plan can create job potential lost after Amazon
BY BILL PARRY
State Senator Jessica
Ramos and Assemblywoman
Nily Rozic introduced
new legislation in Albany
that could legalize electric
bikes and e-scooters by
municipalities across the
state as an increasingly
popular transportation
option – which could pave the
way for them to be legalized
in New York City.
“For many of my neighbors,
who are immigrant delivery
workers, using alternative
modes of transportation is a
matter of livelihood,” Ramos
said. “Especially since
we have not yet restored
everyone’s right to a driver’s
license, legalizing e-bikes
and e-scooters is a matter of
equal access to our streets
and our city. I encourage all
of my colleagues to embrace
these alternative modes of
transportation as we also
consider how to reduce
carbon emissions.”
The legislation would
establish four new non-auto
vehicle categories; pedal
assist e-bikes, throttlepowered
e-bikes, pedalassist
e-bikes and e-scooters.
Charge, a New York-based
company working with
Long Island City’s Boyce
Technologies, is poised to
launch the first-ever electric
micro mobility docking
systems in privately owned
spaces such as parking lots
and garages, gas stations
and other spaces off city
sidewalks and streets.
“We’re hopeful New York
will embrace innovation
with this bill and unlock
the many benefits micro
mobility offers,” Charge
CEO Andrew Fox said.
“Charge is ready to provide
a solution for the sidewalk
clutter other cities around
the world are grappling with
by carving out a home for
e-bikes and scooters. New
York should learn from other
cities’ mistakes by using
Charge to keep sidewalks
clean, while boosting green
transportation providing
new options to those living
in transit deserts.”
Meanwhile, The Legal
Aid Society filed a lawsuit
in New York Supreme Court
challenging the recent Office
of Administrative Trials and
Hearings decision which
states NYPD officers may
issue $500 summonses to
food delivery workers who
utilize e-bikes. The decision
ignores the NYPD Patrol
Guide and New York City
Administrative Code Section
10-157(k), which explicitly
directs officers to issue
summonses to business
owners and vendors instead
of the delivery workers who
ride the bikes, according to
the suit.
“This lawsuit is designed
to ensure that OATH complies
with existing law so that our
clients and other low-income
food delivery workers are
no longer illegally ticketed
with trying to earn a living,”
Legal Aid Attorney Steven
Wasserman said adding
that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
crackdown on e-bikes
based on alleged “safety
concerns” is unfounded and
discriminatory.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
BY MARK HALLUM
During her first town
hall event in Queens,
Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez took questions
about local and national
issues from constituents for up
to two hours.
But one of the most
controversial topics in recent
memory for New Yorkers
was the loss of 25,000 to
40,000 projected jobs from the
establishment of Amazon HQ2
in Long Island City — a deal
that many supporters blamed
politicians such as Ocasio-
Cortez for allowing to fall
apart.
The freshman
representative was just one
of the three most outspoken
opponents who cast a skeptical
eye at the retail giant’s
proposal to build in Anable
Basin and the possibility of
receiving $3 billion in tax
incentives.
“We can create those
jobs without marginalizing
people,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Are those the jobs that they’re
giving the folks in NYCHA,
are those jobs going to our
community? Or are we just
importing already wealthy
people to displace us … It’s
not about, ‘Are we making
25,000 jobs’; it’s about ‘Are
we creating 25,000 jobs that
guarantee healthcare, that
have dignified work where
you’re not working 80 to 100
hours a week just to get by?'”
State leaders who helped
broker the deal with Amazon
expressed dismay in the fallout
of the deal, namely Lieutenant
Governor Kathy Hochul, who
told QNS in February that
misinformation about the deal
may have caused it to go bad.
“The loss of revenue to the
state, the loss to the suppliers,
loss to the local businesses that
would benefit from an infusion
of workers walking into little
bakeries and delicatessens,”
Hochul said during the
February interview. “And
even Queensbridge, there
were a lot of people that were
anxiously awaiting what
opportunities Amazon could
bring to them and giving them
the opportunity to get real
job training in skills that are
highly marketable.”
Although Hochul did not
point any fingers, she claimed
opposition leaders were not
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks issues both local
and national at a Corona town hall. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
factual in their message that
the $3 billion in tax cuts were
predicated on the creation of
jobs.At the April 27 town hall,
however, Ocasio-Cortez
clarified her belief that
Amazon was not entitled to
any tax write-off, especially
when the income taxes gain by
the state would come mostly
from the workers making
headquarters run.
The congresswoman
also projected the belief that
the state Urban Development
Corporation and city Economic
Development Corporation were
offering to build Amazon’s
helipads. Although no money
from the government was part
of this facet of the deal, the two
agencies would be helping to
place the off-site helipads.
“People like to say that all
$3 billion was a tax break; it
wasn’t,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“There was also a very large
immediate capital investment
that was happening in this
deal. We were building
Amazon’s helipads for them.
So I was asking, ‘If we’ve got
the money to buy helipads,
then why don’t we have hot
water on a consistent basis in
public housing?'”
Although placement of the
helipads was to be coordinated
with the FAA, a spokeswoman
from the city agency claimed
this was also misinformation
that any capital investment
in this facet of the project was
part of the deal.
After approval from the
FAA and other agencies,
the EDC spokeswoman said
Amazon would be required
to build an pay for its
own helipads.
Ocasio-Cortez looked to her
Green New Deal, which has
not made many strides at the
federal level, as a job creator
that could be a replacement
to the potential jobs Amazon
reneged on bringing.
“The president of the
United States is saying crazy
things about it so you know
it’s making a difference,”
she said.
The congresswoman added
that the NYC Green New Deal
— which Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced earlier in the week
— could generate 25,000 jobs
after being passed by the City
Council earlier this month and
aims for a 40 percent decrease
in emissions by 2030.
Also discussed at the
town hall at Corona’s Elmcor
Youth and Adult Activities
was education at the national
level where Ocasio-Cortez
voiced support for tuitionfree
education and student
loan forgiveness.
Long Island City’s Boyce Technologies is among many companies
waiting for the legalization of e-bikes and e-scooters. Legislation
was introduced in Albany by two Queens lawmakers.
Courtesy of Charge
TIMESLEDGER, M QNS.COM AY 3-9, 2019 3
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