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NYC cyclists see tenfold increase in criminal summonses under NYPD push
By
Paige Oamek
Published Jul 23, 2025
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Lindsey Nicholson via Getty Images
By
Paige Oamek
Published Jul 23, 2025
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New York City cyclists received 10 times as many criminal summonses in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the first, according to new police data — part of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s amped-up enforcement plans around street safety.
Tisch in April announced a major crackdown on cyclists running red lights, going the wrong way down streets and not wearing helmets. Violators, she said, would stop receiving traffic tickets and start getting criminal summonses that require a court appearance.
Data out this week from the NYPD shows that criminal summons, or “pink tickets,” for cyclists jumped from 561 before the directive to nearly 6,000 tickets in the second quarter of 2025.
Though it was previously possible to get a criminal summons on a bike for quality of life crimes — such as riding a bike on the sidewalk — those tickets were given out far less frequently. The roughly 6,000 summonses issued over the past three months eclipse the 5,605 total issued over the last seven years, according to police data.
New York bike lawyer Daniel Flanzig, said it’s unfair that accused cyclists aren’t routed through traffic court as drivers are.
“Motorists and cyclists are being treated completely differently,” said Flanzig. “Traffic court doesn't require a physical appearance. You could do it virtually. You could enter a plea of guilty. It's completely unfair. Both are committing the same violation.”
Still, he said many of his clients had relatively painless experiences with the criminal summonses. They pay a $190 fine and are told to stay out of trouble for six months — but the encounter with the criminal justice system, to Flanzig, is unnecessary.
Luis Cortes, director of Los Deliveristas Unidos, an organization for app-based delivery workers, has seen some of the same but also heard horror stories of wasted days in court and translation troubles.
According to data analyzed by Gothamist, police have handed out summonses most frequently in the dozen or so high-volume corridors where Tisch said they would, including Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, Second Avenue in Manhattan and Fordham Road in the Bronx.
The map below, courtesy of Charlie Dektar, shows where the summonses have been issued throughout the city.
When the push for summonses was first announced, immigration and transit advocates warned that criminal ticketing may be a back channel for deportations of immigrant delivery workers, but so far no evidence has publicly emerged to suggest a link between the summonses and deportations.
Still, Cortes said any interaction with a court has a chilling as the Trump administration grows more aggressive on deporting undocumented immigrants.
“People are scared. People don't know the difference between a criminal court, state court, an immigration court,” Cortes said.
Tagged
bicycles
public safety
transportation
Paige Oamek
Paige Oamek is a reporter on Gothamist & WNYC's day-of general assignment desk.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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