Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) threw a knock-out punch at the burgeoning pedicab industry yesterday, pushing through legislation which eliminates approximately 175 of the 500 pedicabs currently operating. By imposing an arbitrary cap on the number of pedicabs citywide (325), her efforts will put many people out of jobs and may spell doom for the industry.
Council Member Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), Chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee, introduced this horrendous bill at the request of the Bloomberg administration. In addition to the cap, his bill requires 2 million dollars in insurance for pedicab owners (compared to $300,000 for horse-drawn carriages and $350,000 for taxis).
You may remember that Council Member Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan) had also proposed regulations. LOHV-NYC and the Pedicab Owners Association had strongly supported his efforts. Unfortunately, Speaker Quinn and the Bloomberg Administration wouldn't have it. Gerson, who had worked tirelessly for pedicab regulations, ended up abstaining from yesterday's vote.
In the end, only a few Council Members bothered to take a stand for the pedicabs and vote no on this legislation. Among them were our friends Rosie Mendez, Tony Avella and Annabel Palma. Kudos to them. We'll post the the voting record here as soon as it's available.
3/5/07 update:
For the record, the bill was sponsored by Council Members Comrie, The Speaker (Council Member Quinn), Martinez, McMahon, Monserrate, Seabrook, Stewart, White Jr., Recchia Jr., Gentile, Garodnick, Koppell, Liu, Gennaro, Sears, and DeBlasio (in conjunction with the Mayor)
Intro. 331 passed by a vote of 38 to 7. Council members Tony Avella, Charles Barron, Letitia James, Rosie Mendez, Hiram Monserrate, Annabel Palma, and Albert Vann voted against it. Four more council members abstained - Gale Brewer, Alan Gerson, Diane Mealy, and James Sanders.