Rogue pedicabs are taking New York for a ride.
Pedicab drivers accused of scamming tourists and turning Midtown into a wild west on wheels could finally hit a red light — with proposed legislation to beef up oversight, require meters and decrease insurance costs.
City council vowed Tuesday to review the measures put forward by a coalition of Big Apple business groups and non-profits, including the Times Square Alliance and Central Park Conservancy, to crack down on the out-of-control industry, in which riders have reported paying up to $1,000 for short trips.
“I’m familiar with the long-running and complex challenges of regulating the pedicab industry, which has been growing exponentially in recent years,” said City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who once ran the agency charged with regulating pedicabs, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
“The Council looks forward to reviewing the proposed legislative solutions and to identifying other collaborative measures that help protect the city’s tourists and residents, midtown businesses and drivers alike,” she added.
Despite only about 850 pedicab licenses being issued by the city, the New York Pedicab Alliance (NYPA) estimates that more than 1,500 of the three-wheeled vehicles are operating throughout Midtown.
The groups are now backing a new roadmap from the Center for Justice Innovation that would strengthen oversight of pedicabs by moving them from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
The proposal also calls for standardized rates, the requirement of meters, the outlawing of unsafe electric motors, fairer insurance costs, and a shift to a civil, rather than criminal, enforcement system.
“For decades, New York City’s pedicab industry has operated in a regulatory gray zone that harms consumers, exploits drivers, and degrades the experience of visitors to Central Park and the broader Midtown area, especially in Times Square,” said Betsy Smith, president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy.
The NYPA has called for City Hall to regulate the sky-high price of insurance for pedicabs – which is now up to $5,000 per bike and is offered by a single Florida-based agency.
“A pedicab ride can be a fun way to see our great city, but when those drivers are subjected to outdated rules that make compliance impossible and foster predatory practices, it’s time for reform,” Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, said.
Frustration with the city’s pedicab industry has been building with complaints piling up about noise and lawless operators.
Last summer, rogue pedicabs blasted music around the Theater District so loud they reportedly interrupted Broadway performances and clogged sidewalks, prompting a Council bill to ban pedicabs within 50 feet of theater entrances.
Licensed drivers also warned that an influx of unlicensed, makeshift pedicabs was hijacking the industry, scamming tourists with deceptive pricing.
Former Mayor Eric Adams expanded his Community Link quality-of-life program into Central Park and Midtown, launched a dedicated pedicab task force and ramped up enforcement against unlicensed and noisy pedicabs — but the problem has persisted.
Harris now wants Mayor Zohran Mamdani to crack down on the wild cabs as well.
“We urge the Mamdani administration to overhaul the industry and treat pedicabs like other for-hire vehicles with protections for operators and consumers,” Harris said.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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