What New Electric Scooter Legislation Could Mean For Brooklyn

Two City Councilmembers have introduced new legislation to legalize a variety of electronic transportation alternatives in New York, a move which could help Brooklyn residents from busy delivery-riders to displaced L train passengers.

Yesterday, Brooklyn Councilmember Rafael Espinal (D-37) and Manhattan/Bronx Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez introduced the package of four bills on the steps of City Hall. Two of the bills were focused on electric scooters.

One of the bills would legalize electric scooters on the streets of New York, paving the way for ride-sharing companies like Bird to bring their business to the city.

Already, the scooter-share giant has been hosting events in Brooklyn, including a demo in Bed-Stuy with Councilmember Robert Cornegy (D-36) this summer. Many local politicians have been vocally in favor of the ride-sharing company’s model, including Borough President Eric Adams, who went for a ride-along with the company from Williamsburg to Bushwick.

With a bill introduced to legalize the scooters, Councilmembers Espinal and Rodriguez are following-up with a second bill that would mandate the DOT institute a pilot-program for dockless electric scooters.

Currently, the city is running a pilot program for dockless bikes in the Rockaways, though plans to test the bikes in Coney Island were scrapped.

If a scooter pilot-program is implemented, it’s likely that Brooklyn councilmembers will be advocating for their neighborhoods. At the Bird event in Bed-Stuy over the summer, Councilmember Cornegy was enthusiastic about the scooters, hoping to bring new transportation options to members of his community he believes are often overlooked by new advancements.

“Communities of color aren’t often at the vanguard of new technology,” said Cornegy, at the time. “There are intelligent and capable people in this community that don’t want to be skipped by technology.”

At the same event, Bird’s Director of Public Policy, Matthew Kopko, said Brooklyn would be a likely recipient for scooters when they get the green light.

“Downtown [Manhattan] is too crowded,” he said. “We’d like to focus on the outer boroughs.”

It’s likely Espinal would like to see the pilot program for scooters come to his district as well—he’s written an op-ed on it and he’s introducing the legislation for it, so it’s safe to say he’s on board.

Like much of Brooklyn, the neighborhoods in Espinal’s district (East New York, Brownsville, Bushwick) don’t have any Citi Bike coverage—though that could change. Today’s announcement of Lyft’s $100 million investment in expanding Citi Bike didn’t come with specifics on which neighborhoods would see more coverage, but the Department of Transportation already has plans to announce more coverage in Bushwick.

Click here to read more about the announcement of Citi Bike’s new investment and expansion.