Pedicabs Seized In Central Park

Photo via Circular Ruins Flickr

Following the pedicab crash off the Williamsburg Bridge earlier this year, the city decided to try to get those pedicab laws in order. With less than a month left to pass an inspection to obtain a license, there are reportedly only 25 of around 1,000 pedicab operators who have done so as of earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the NY Post reports on 13 rickshaws that went rogue in Central Park yesterday only to be picked up by the NYPD and Parks Department, who seized the vehicles. The paper notes that 14 summonses were also dealt out to other operators of the 3-wheeled mechanism. The operators were allegedly breaking the rules of the park, which are mostly in place to protect pedestrians, and state that "rickshaws cannot obstruct entrances or endanger pedestrians by operating on pedestrian paths and must follow the same traffic regulations as bicycles."

Are human pedaled pedicabs really more dangerous than carriage horses?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on October 27, 2009 10:47 AM

Comments [rss]

TourguideStan

Gothamist should use its own reporter, rather than rely on the Post's unreliable info. When a friend went to get his pedicab inspected last week, the inspectors told him that 49 pedicabs had gone in for inspection. This is double the number the Post reported this week and, therefore, double the number The Gothamist reported. It wouldn't have hurt The Gothamist to call the DCA and ask!

Please write to the NYC Pedicab Owner Association at www.nycpoa.org, or info@nycpoa.org, for accurate information on pedicab issues before publication. We look forward to the coming days when all pedicabs are insured and driven by licensed drivers. I'm Secretary of the Association.

Stan O'Connor

potsmoker

pedicabs siezed?

who benefits, the well connected horse carriage racket.

do the police seize bikes when you dont obey traffic laws, NOPE. do the police sieze cars when you run a red light or blow through a stop sign, NOPE again.

an obvious agenda reaveled.

whitecastlerock

Pedicabs, horse and buggy-it's all pretty fucking stupid and they all need to be banned. Let people walk around a park without getting run over or step in huge piles of horse dung

hotstepper

where is the fun in that?

zodak

i'm glad that pedicabs are around & think they should replace the carriages but yes, they can be more dangerous. most of them are really reckless & don't even look before they turn.

felixthecat2

I actually like the pedicabs, I rode them a few times just for fun. The sad part is how Quinn is out to destroy this industry to benefit the OLD Queens Machine (old Irish) who are align with the Irish carriage owners. Cronyism at your finest. Justin Timberlake brought sexy back and Quinn brought Tammany Hall back.

felixthecat2

It is Christine Quinn. See picture of Christine Quinn with the carriage driver

http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2009/05/christine-please-stay-in-manhattan.html

The horse carriage industry is threatened by the pedicab industry and wants them out of the park. Many people take pedicabs because they don't like the horse shit smell. Some take it because they are aware of the cruelty.

Horse carriage industry is cruel and unsafe. The carriage drivers are not required to have driver licenses and the are always on the phone or running the lights. Also you can't control a half ton animals that spooks easily. Not to mention that they only have 20,000 insurance compared to the 200,000 insurance required by pedicabs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNVaKw-S2aY

Tower18

Wow, extremely lame ploy to get a felixthecat2 argument going in this thread.

felixthecat2

Wrong, I am uncertain if you attend any of the pedicab and horse carriage industry but if you did then you will know that the carriage industry has Quinn on their side and they are invested to end the pedicab industry.

http://www.nylhv.org/2006/12/pedicabs_may_be_banned_from_ce.html

felixthecat2

Wrong, I am uncertain if you attend any of the pedicab and horse carriage industry HEARINGS (city council) ......

hotstepper

good start. now can bicycles follow the same traffic regulations as bicycles? super. thanks.

hunter.blatherer

As soon as drivers start following the regulations for cars. That means you can't run a red light just because it was green when you first saw it, among other things.

hotstepper

oh is that how traffic regulations work? how informative.

hunter.blatherer

No, unfortunately it's not how they work, since it's one of the rules both drivers and police feel can be safely ignored. Safely to the driver that is, which is all that counts.