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4 months into Adams’ pedicab crackdown, most tickets get tossed
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 18, 2025
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John Lamparski/Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 18, 2025
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Four months into Mayor Eric Adams’ promised crackdown on unlicensed pedicabs, court records show that less than 10% of the roughly 1,200 tickets issued so far this year have resulted in any punishment.
Judges have thrown out the vast majority of the summonses, largely because they were poorly written or deemed unjust, the data shows.
The enforcement push, which Adams announced in May as part of a broader quality-of-life campaign led by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, was intended to rein in the proliferation of bicycle taxis in Midtown. The rides are popular with tourists but often criticized for blasting music, overcharging customers and scamming them through credit card fraud.
According to the court data, 35% of tickets were deemed legally insufficient, 25% were dismissed in the interest of justice, 9% were never prosecuted and another 20% were tossed for other reasons. Only 9% resulted in a punishment, usually a fine.
The mayor’s office declined to comment on the effectiveness of the enforcement. A spokesperson for the court system and the city department that regulates pedicabs did not respond to requests for comment.
Jacob Uriel, a former Brooklyn prosecutor who now defends people charged with low-level offenses, said the summons court is effective mainly at pulling people off the street for a day. Most tickets don’t stick.
“Where’s the incentive to actually get a [pedicab] license if it’s more expensive and more cumbersome than a couple tickets here and there,” he said.
The initiative came under renewed scrutiny last month after pedicab driver Musa Cetin died by suicide in a police precinct following his arrest for failing to appear in court for a ticket.
According to the NYPD, nine people have died in police custody so far this year. At least four had been jailed for low-level offenses, a practice that's become increasingly common. Last year, 25 people died in NYPD custody, police said.
The week after Cetin’s death, police launched two enforcement sweeps in Midtown that resulted in 23 criminal summonses, 16 vehicle seizures and three arrests.
Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, said cracking down on what he called disruptive, predatory pedicabs has proven difficult.
“If you put pressure in one area, the pedicabs tend to go to the other area,” Harris said.
He added that unlicensed operators “appear to be organized and will alert each other when there is enforcement.”
The NYPD said Midtown North has received 130 complaints about pedicabs so far this year.
Licensed drivers expressed mixed feelings about the stepped-up enforcement.
Some supported efforts to remove unlicensed operators, who they said undercut those following the rules. But many said the NYPD’s approach feels like a dragnet that targets everyone.
“The people who don’t have their credentials up to date, get rid of them,” said Frankie Legarreta, a licensed pedicab driver. “But those who do have it say, 'Good job, keep going.' Leave us alone.”
Sinan Ozgar, who runs a garage that rented Cetin the pedicab he was using at the time of his arrest, described him as hardworking. Ozgar said Cetin came to the United States from Turkey in 2022, crossing the border through Mexico with three cousins.
Ozgar acknowledged Cetin was not properly licensed but said he had cleared all his tickets except one. He described a system in which tickets are simply a cost of doing business.
“We collect the tickets,” he said. “One ticket kills all your day. I prefer to go to court if I have a couple of tickets.”
Tagged
Politics
new york city
parks
transportation
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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