Earth Day Timing Could Affect Pedicab Vote

It may be a coincidence that Earth Day is a day before a City Council vote to cap the number of pedicabs allowed in the city, but the unusual timing could prove invaluable to the bicycle taxi industry.

Several environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Transportation Alternatives, and the New York Public Interest Research Group, reminded City Council members in a letter that April 22 is Earth Day. "In fact," the groups say in the letter, "the day after Earth Day, April 23rd, millions of New Yorkers who care about our environment will turn their eyes upon the City Council to see how your words from the day before translate into action."

The test will come in the form of a vote to override Mayor Bloomberg's veto "of a terrible piece of anti-environmental legislation," they say, referring to the pedicab bill.

The council will vote Monday to override a mayoral veto of a bill to cap the number of pedicabs in the city at 325 and ban the use of electric pedal assists, which drivers use to give their legs a break on long trips.

As first reported in The New York Sun, Speaker Christine Quinn is close friends with lobbyist Emily Giske, whose firm, Bolton-St. Johns Inc., has been hired by the taxi industry to lobby the council on various issues, including the pedicab bill. Ms. Quinn has been the staunchest proponent of the bill at City Hall. On WNYC yesterday, Ms. Quinn said Ms. Giske does not lobby for the taxi industry and has never lobbied her on this bill.

"I have been opposed to unregulated pedicabs since 2005," Ms. Quinn said, adding that the industry should not be allowed to make money off the city and be unregulated.