E-bike crash survivors share horror stories as scourge of lawless riders plagues NYC

Dozens of e-bike survivors living with life-changing injuries from the dangerous vehicles — and the loved ones of those who were killed in the wrecks — rallied on the steps of City Hall Wednesday to demand tighter enforcement on the deadly, unregulated scooters.

A cellist lost her ability to play the instrument that made her career, and a mother was forced to give birth prematurely after a crash — and watch her son spend the first three months of his life in intensive care.

Other victims were represented by their loved ones, who spoke on their behalf as they struggled to recover in hospital beds and for those who ultimately didn’t survive their grievous injuries.

All demanded at a City Council hearing Wednesday that leadership pass legislation that would end the lawless free-for-all that the reckless speedsters have taken advantage of.

Here is some of their testimony.

Tonette Rivera

Brooklyn resident Tonette Rivera said she is still paying for a crash that sent her to the hospital while she was pregnant two years ago.

She was hit when she was 20 weeks pregnant with her son and had to stay in the hospital until he was born at 28 weeks.

Afterward, her son Michael had to spend another three months in neonatal intensive care.

Rivera came to Wednesday’s e-bike hearing to “advocate for pedestrians who don’t have a voice” and to tell the City Council to take pedestrian safety seriously. 

“Lock in and take it seriously because people are just getting hurt for no reason. For what? For little food delivery jobs? Come on,” she said. 

Michael is doing better now, but Rivera said she still owes “a few thousand” in hospital bills.

“Should I give it to the union to pay it?” she asked, referring to Los Deliveristas Unidos.

Julie Harvey

Julie Harvey was knocked to the ground in May by a biker “speeding downhill” who blew through a stop sign. 

Harvey’s head smashed into the pavement and blood spewed from the back of her head, rendering her unable to move, she said.

“I am very lucky to be alive,” Harvey said, adding that the driver “will suffer no consequences for destroying someone’s life.”

“Cyclists need to accept responsibility for the risks they are taking. At this point, everyone else is paying for the cyclist’s risks.”

Jean Kotler

Jean Kotler is still suffering from speech and cognitive issues since she was struck by an e-bike while running in Central Park on July 7 in a harrowing crash that required doctors to remove part of her skull.

“An EBIKE going the wrong direction, in the wrong lane hit her from behind. She never saw it coming, how unimaginable,” her sister, Jessica Celano, wrote in testimony for the hearing. 

“As Jean lay unconscious, bleeding on the ground, this EBIKE driver attempted to flee the scene. But God Bless some wonderful NYC ANGELS, they made sure he stayed until the cops arrived. And called 911.”

Celano said three months later her sister is still in the hospital after enduring multiple surgeries.

“And the EBIKE driver that ran her down was only questioned at the scene by the police for 20 minutes before being let go. How is that even possible?” Celano raged. 

“We still have a long journey ahead. And what has this driver been doing all this time, I wonder?” Celano said. 

She called for the licensing and registration of e-bikes to help hold out-of-control drivers accountable. 

Renee Baruch

Renee Baruch was left with devastating injuries after she was struck by an e-bike in 2023, including severe facial lacerations, fractures and damage to her cervical spine.

“I do not know the name of the individual who hit me. I do know it was an ebike only because I was told that in the emergency room by the plastic surgeon who worked on my ruined face,” Baruch said.

Baruch said the driver who hit her was never identified. 

“It changed my life forever. Something must be done to make accountability a part of the equation. I hope Priscilla’s law is the first thing this council considers,” she said, referring to a law that would require registration and licensing of e-bikes. 

“Even as a casual observer you know it is not safe to cross any street in NYC with the light in a crosswalk without carefully looking in both directions.”

Pamela Manassee

Pamela Manasse said she’s still paralyzed on her right side and her music career is over after an out-of-control e-biker hit her four years ago.

“I was hit brutally,” Manasse told The Post. “I’ve lost my career as a cellist, and I have to sit through all of this crap, listening to the DOT, trying to make this or that plan. Let’s investigate this, and talk about this, and analyze this till the nth degree.”

“All you really need to do is license and register all e-vehicles, and it’s done, and you have them be detected by red light cameras, just like cars,” she said.

After the Council’s hearing she felt pessimistic that anything meaningful would be done to rein in e-bikes.

“Let’s sit and talk more, right? That’s their answer. Let’s get data. Let’s get reports. Let’s get findings,” she said sarcastically. “This Council is not gonna do anything.”

She doesn’t like how Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been lax about e-bike enforcement either. 

She called into an interview Mamdani did on WNYC earlier this week and asked him about licensing and registering e-bikes.

“He did not answer. He skirted the issue, of course.”