Int. No. 252
By Council Members Miller, Duane and Linares; also Council Members Cruz, Foster, Harrison and Michels.
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the operation of bicycles on sidewalks.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section one. Subdivision a of section 19-176 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 6 for the year 1996, is amended by adding a new paragraph 4 to read as follows:
§19-176 Bicycle operation on sidewalks prohibited. a. For purposes of this section:
(4) The term "substantial risk of physical injury" shall mean when a person rides a bicycle on a sidewalk within twenty feet of another person.
§2. Subdivision (c) of section 19-176 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as enacted by local law number 6 for the year 1996, is amended to read as follows:
(c) A person who violates subdivision b of this section under circumstances which create a substantial risk of physical injury to another person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars and imprisonment for not more than twenty days or both such fine and imprisonment. Such person shall also be liable for a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars which may be recovered in a proceeding before the environmental control board. Where a summons or notice of violation is issued for a violation of this subdivision, a designated employee of the department, the department of sanitation or the department of parks and recreation or a police officer may seize and impound the bicycle. [In any proceeding under this subdivision it shall be a defense that the defendant or respondent was less than fourteen years old at the time of the commission of the violation.]
§3. Subdivision g of section 19-176 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as enacted by local law number 6 for the year 1996, is relettered as subdivision h and a new subdivision g is added to read as follows:
(g) In any proceeding under this section it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant or respondent was less than fourteen years old at the time the violation was committed.
§4. This local law shall take effect immediately.
LS #2758
05/29/96
JJ:ts