By Daniel Krieger
It was a warm July afternoon, sunny with a blue sky, and Pamela Greitzer-Manasse was walking on the Upper West Side with her husband, Jon Manasse, and a friend, Chris Pell. They were in front of David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, on their way to lunch, discussing the options. All three are musicians, and they were coming from a dress rehearsal of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Damrosch Park. It was a Tuesday, around 12:30 pm. The light signaled to walk, and as they were crossing the street, just a few steps from a small triangular median on 65th Street, at the point where Columbus and Broadway intersect, an electric moped that was cutting across the median collided head-on with Greitzer-Manasse, throwing her into the air.
The driver, identified in the police report as Maurie Morris, 37, of the Bronx, kept going, though slowed down by the impact. To stop him from fleeing, Manasse jumped on his back and held him in a headlock. Another moped driver took the keys from Morris’ moped. A bulldozer operator drove into the middle of the street to block the oncoming traffic where Greitzer-Manasse lay unconscious. Then Manasse went to tend to his wife, who, having landed on her head, was catastrophically injured, while Pell stood between the other moped driver and Morris, who demanded his keys and was cursing at him and threatening to fight him.
The police arrived and then an ambulance. Manasse got into the ambulance with his wife, and then fainted. Meanwhile, the police spoke to Pell and Morris. Morris said: “He was avoiding traffic on Columbus so he went on the sidewalk to avoid it,” according to the police accident report. Pell said he didn’t see traffic on Columbus at the time of Morris’ illegal maneuver.
“I saw him coming, and I thought he was going to stop,” Pell said in a recent phone interview. “But he just continued and didn’t make any effort to not collide with her. There was no humanity, and that was shocking to me.” (Morris told police that he didn’t see Greitzer-Manasse.) And then after the collision, Pell recounted, Morris “never tried to communicate with the Manasses in any way.”
Pell saw Morris gather his belongings from his moped, which the police seized, and they let him go. Then Morris walked over to Le Pain Quotidien on 65th Street. Pell, a 31-year-old clarinetist who studied under Manasse at Juilliard, said he remembers a time not long ago when these vehicles were not part of the cityscape as they are today. “But with the e-bikes and e-scooters these days,” he said, “it’s like the Wild West.”
Whether e-scooters, e-bikes, hoverboards, or electric mopeds like Lime and Revel and the one driven by Morris, what these electric-powered mobility devices all have in common is they can go fast enough to seriously injure or kill pedestrians, not to mention the drivers. And when COVID hit a few years ago and people wanted safer transportation options, they exploded in popularity.
Battery-powered, green, quiet, fast, lightweight, compact, relatively cheap, and good for getting around the city, e-mobility vehicles seem like the ideal solution to urban transport problems, especially in New York where the subways can be unreliable and buses are slow. But these vehicles are dangerous, so much so that a quick Google search turns up a raft of personal injury lawyers seeking to represent those hurt by them.
That’s because the culture of these vehicles is such that most drivers don’t observe traffic laws, such as stopping at red lights, yielding to pedestrians, not driving on the sidewalk, going with the flow of traffic, and not driving recklessly. And as with cars, after an e-mobility vehicle collision that injures or kills a pedestrian, the police tend to shy away from holding drivers accountable due to the way the law is structured, unless they flee the scene or are intoxicated.
When the actress Lisa Banes was killed last year by an e-scooter on West 64th Street, the driver was later arrested because he fled the scene. So it appears that killing her due to recklessness, going through a red light, and failure to yield was not the crime, but fleeing the killing was. If that driver had remained, he very well may have been sent on his way like Morris with a traffic ticket. And though the Banes incident led a few local lawmakers to howl that the laws need to be changed to account for the rise of e-mobility vehicles and the threat they pose to the public, nothing came of it.
The number of injuries and deaths of pedestrians and drivers caused by e-mobility devices has been rising over the last few years as their use has surged. ABC reported that in the first seven months of 2022, 680 people were injured in e-scooter accidents in New York City, up from 588 during the same period in 2021, according to authorities. And hundreds of the injured were pedestrians, according to CrashMapper.org. But more comprehensive data that includes injuries and deaths from all types of e-mobility vehicles seem not to be tallied or readily available.
On the Upper West Side, there have been a number of injuries and deaths over the past few years, such as Hing Chung, an elderly man killed by an e-bike on Amsterdam Avenue in April 2021; Helga Schnitker, an 82-year-old woman killed by a Revel in September 2020 near Columbus Circle; and in an ABC Eyewitness News report in June, 2021, headlined “E-scooter crashes on the rise in NYC, with bystanders the ones getting injured,” Dr. Ian Tang spoke of being knocked out when an e-scooter hit him in Riverside Park, where a sign says they are prohibited yet it’s a common sight to see them. “I feel violated,” he was quoted saying. “It hurts to take a deep breath, but luckily I didn’t die.” This month, the NYPD reported that Neiser Herrera, 37, died from a head injury he got while driving an e-scooter on West 110th Street.
Since these vehicles do not need to be registered, licensed, or insured — with the exception of mopeds — the city can’t regulate them like cars and can’t catch them with speed and red-light cameras. (In the photo of Morris’ electric moped, it seems to not have a license plate.) For as long as they proliferate unchecked, there will be more tragedies like those of Lisa Banes, Helga Schnitker and Pamela Greitzer-Manasse.
On a recent rainy Sunday afternoon, sitting in their kitchen nearly two months later, Greitzer-Manasse and her husband, Jon Manasse, talked about that dark July day when their lives got turned upside down, and its aftermath. On the wall behind them hung a Leonard Bernstein Festival poster; one of their three kids was playing piano in an adjacent room; their beagle mix, Babka, was fast asleep in her bed.
Greitzer-Manasse, 60, and Manasse, 57, met at Juilliard pre-college as teenagers. They both attended Juilliard — Greitzer-Manasse plays the cello and Manasse the clarinet — and they have lived on the Upper West Side since 1982. They are busy, in-demand, top-tier musicians with successful careers, playing at a variety of venues, and they teach as well.
The blow to Greitzer-Manasse’s head caused a traumatic brain injury and a brain bleed, like what happens with a stroke, and the right side of her body remains somewhat paralyzed. Her memory of that day has been wiped clean. Afterward, she spent three weeks in the hospital, and now she walks with a cane and needs a brace to stabilize her right foot. She has two sessions a week of occupational therapy and two of physical therapy. “Every day I improve a little bit,” she said. “I’m a lot better than a month ago. I could not open this hand and now I can. But my right side is severely diminished, and I’ve lost my livelihood. I cannot play cello.”
Manasse went to talk to the police and asked why they let Morris go. “They said they can’t do anything more,” he said. So he hired a lawyer to bring a civil suit, but the lawyer was unable to serve Morris papers because the address he had given the police was incorrect. When Manasse asked the police for help in locating Morris, they declined, but did provide him with Morris’ phone number, with the warning to be careful because Morris has an arrest record. Manasse remains in stunned disbelief over how all of this has played out.
“Here we are, taxpayers, longtime Upper West Siders, civic-minded people, doing what we’re supposed to do — walking in the crosswalk with the light — and you just don’t feel safe,” Manasse said. “There need to be laws in place. You would think it’s a crime to hit a pedestrian when you ride up on the sidewalk, or in the crosswalk, and nearly kill them and give them a traumatic brain injury and paralyze them. Any normal thinking person would say, ‘hey, that’s a violation of someone’s rights. It should be prosecutable.’”
An NYPD spokesperson responded to an email asking why criminal charges couldn’t be brought by recapping what took place, and writing: “A summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian was issued to the male who remained on the scene.”
The personal injury lawyer Manasee hired, Robert Stein, who is not representing them since there is no civil case, said in a phone interview: “Anybody who lives in New York knows that these electric bikes and mopeds and scooters are dangerous and people who operate them should abide by the traffic laws that we have, but oftentimes they don’t and they get away with it.” And as far as Pamela Greitzer-Manasse’s case, he said that Morris “got off fairly lightly getting a ticket for failure to yield when he actually rode his electric vehicle onto a sidewalk,” adding that the extent of her injuries should be factored into the case as well as the fact that she did not contribute to what happened.
Even before the July 19th incident, the couple said, they were aware of the menace of e-mobility vehicles and took great care to avoid them. “We had had near misses before this,” Manasse said. “You have to look both ways all the time, you have to make sure that even though you have the light, they aren’t going to go through a red light or go the wrong way or go on the sidewalk.”
“This is lawlessness,” Greitzer-Manasse added, “and if there are laws in place, nobody cares about them.”
As for Morris, Manasse recalled, “He had no contrition or interest in finding out about her condition. He just wanted to leave.”
WSR called Morris at the number provided by the police and spoke to his mother, who said she knew nothing of the incident. He did not respond to an interview request.
Now Pamela Greitzer-Manasse is trying to get her life back, but there is no clear prognosis and she doesn’t know if she will ever play cello again. However, the couple maintains optimism with the hope that she will recover, eventually.
And amid the horror of that fateful instant when everything changed, Manasse is able to see two tiny bright spots — the good Samaritans who immediately sprang into action. “There were a lot of people who cared,” he said. “And also, we’re filled with gratitude that it wasn’t worse.”
Now they’re left sifting through the pieces of that day and its aftermath, trying to make sense of something that has no rhyme or reason. But they also have a newfound sense of purpose.
“Our goal now is to do something for our community to make it safer,” Manasse said. “This is the primary reason why we’re talking about it. This is not just our plight. This can be anyone’s plight. It can happen to anyone at any time.”
I’m so glad she’s improving and kudos to her husband for being a good man in restraining the criminal.
I find the laws so anti-victim, so weak, so blah. I sincerely hope the electorate, on balance, is happy where we are on the UWS, in NYC, and in this state. I am not.
Why would you hope the electorate is happy in this situation of blatant injustice? Find this confusing…
If Jon hadn’t restrained Morris & Morris ended up leaving the scene… could he have THEN been arrested, for leaving the scene of an accident he’d caused?
In which case Jon helped Morris… who wanted to fight him because of that saving restraint.
What a crazy animal the law is, never knowing who to bite & who leave alone.
You could put this very ugly & way too common story into every issue of The West Side Rag from here to kingdom come and it’ll still never get old.
The last several years New York has not only become even more of a jungle, but it’s a jungle during a war, it’s Guadalcanal or Tarawa; only it’s not just hard bullets ripping into soft flesh, it’s also silent uncaring Kamikazes like hard Morris & coming from every direction: 360 degrees of death or maiming mayhem erupting from every possible direction, & all the few rules to prevent them happening (when they even exist) be damned.
These folks were brave indeed. They were also lucky that the perpetrator wasn’t carrying a weapon. Nowadays, sadly, I assume many people are.
In NY, only criminals are allowed to carry weapons. Law abiding citizens despite recent Supreme Court decision are stymied at every turn.
I think in NYC, men are just naturally more manly. We dont need guns or big trucks to prove how big we are.
I’m sure having a weapon would have stopped this tragedy. (Sarcasm) Enough with the gun worshipping.
Well, the State approved the use of these unlicensed machines, as long as they’re speed limited. I guess that was a favor to the NYC restaurant industry in particular.
But, when the State Legislature and Andrew Cuomo made this new legal exemption in 2019, they all “forgot” that the NYPD was already not enforcing the NOT repealed laws that the e-scooters/e-mopeds, and real bicycles, are to travel with traffic, stop at reds (on the correct side of the crosswalk) and not be driven or ridden on sidewalks.
(Yes, I know that kids under 16 can ride normal pedal bicycles on sidewalks legally. )
To make matters worse, the drivers of these e-scooters text and websurf while in motion, both are illegal activities. But the NYPD does nothing.
The delivery guys/gals, using bicycles or e-scooters — gasoline powered scooters are illegal without a license and insurance, are to use lighting at night; it’s the law, but they largely stopped doing so years ago. The NYPD does nothing.
Many e-scooter drivers illegally drive with headphones on/in both ears. NYPD does nothing.
I see there’s no response from Gail Brewer cited here.
“That’s because the culture of these vehicles is such that most drivers don’t observe traffic rules that they are required to, such as stopping at red lights, yielding to pedestrians, not driving on the sidewalk, ”
No, these aren’t rules these dangerous drivers are ignoring; they’re laws. Treating these laws as rules that can be broken is part of the problem.
In NYC, only kids less than 13 are allowed to ride bicycles on the sidewalk (not 16), and the wheels have to be less than 26 inches (i.e., smaller than an adult bike’s).
Also important to note, an adult riding with a minor is allowed to ride on the sidewalk. But anyone riding on a sidewalk must yield to pedestrians.
Interesting to know, thought it was 16, obviously.
Didn’t know of the wheel diameter restriction.
Looks like Citi-Lyftbike has problem, because the Lyft sure rents to a lot of teenagers who ride on sidewalks.
Not sure how a teenager, under 18, can sign a legal liability waiver like the one in the fine print of the Lyftbike agreement.
Maybe if pedestrians and NYC started suing the restaurants who employed these electric-bike scofflaws, things would improve, even if slightly. That favor to the restaurant industry you rightly noted would become a disfavor of sorts: hurt ’em where it hurts — their wallet! Cameras and social media could identify who these riders are and who employs them, so no more hiding behind false identities. Something must be done.
He wasn’t a delivery driver in my Sister in Laws case!! Just an irresponsible, bad person who hit her, almost killed her and then tried to escape!!! Had nothing to do with restaurants🤷♀️🤷♀️
Jokes on you – they are not employed by anybody. They are independent contractors that typically work on the apps (Doordash, etc.). Welcome to the sharing economy!
Okay, so sue Doordash and Grubhub and whoever is raking in the real money from these apps; plus, the restaurants themselves have a contract with these app maker and, perhaps, can be held partly responsible. If they lose money on speed, they’ll opt for safety and so will their delivery men. In this case, however, if doesn’t seem Morris was working for anyone.
These independent contractors are also incentivized to break the law (speeding, riding on sidewalks, running red lights, riding the wrong way on one way streets, riding in bike lanes on mopeds that are illegal there) by rating systems that value speed but not safety. Simply put, the faster they deliver the more money they make. Doordash and Grubhub must be held accountable by new laws and by consumers.
Who doesn’t like their food delivered when it’s hot? But the tip is already added for most of these online meal deliveries so I don’t think tips exactly work the way they are supposed to.
This garbage where the cops and DA’s give passes to people who, let’s be clear hear, **ASSAULT** other folk by using cars, trucks, and, yeah, sometimes e-bikes, has GOT to stop.
If someone was walking down the Broadway sidewalk swinging a baseball bat and hitting people, even if by so-called “accident”, there’d be a gazillion charges that would stick.
So why has the criminal justice system been playing this game for decades?
Get me a candidate for DA who’ll recognize these as the attacks they are, and prosecute.
Vote Republican
I guarantee that these cops, who didn’t even bother to verify his address or help the victims press charges are all Republican. they are also apparently unwilling to do the most basic diligence in helping serve justice.
None of this part of the article would change if the City Council were all republican. This is just an attitude of not giving a damn:
“Manasse went to talk to the police and asked why they let Morris go. “They said they can’t do anything more,” he said. So he hired a lawyer to bring a civil suit, but the lawyer was unable to serve Morris papers because the address he had given the police was incorrect. When Manasse asked the police for help in locating Morris, they declined, but did provide him with Morris’ phone number, with the warning to be careful because Morris has an arrest record. Manasse remains in stunned disbelief over how all of this has played out.”
Republicans killed Roe v Wade.
Republicans who support smaller government, fewer regulations?? Republicans who care a twit about anyone or anything but bowing to trump and their own political ambitions and bank accounts?? Really??
Agreed…. it’s not an option to vote Republican. But the Democratic elected representatives are complacent, and this conundrum Can. Not. Continue.
We have all forgotten about the scales of justice which need to be even – when the scale has too much places on the left, the scale tips to falling; and just as evenly, when the scale is tipped too far right it falls. Often to even out the scale the populace needs to lean more in the other direction to help even the scale again – we have all tipped too far left and as hard as it is for some to accept, it is time to start leaning right – to help the scale stay even and last.
What’s so sad is that TODAY, the police may not even arrest somebody swinging a baseball bat and hitting people, or if they did arrest such a person, would any charges even be brought against them? A friend of mine was walking down Fifth Avenue around 48th Street last week when a seemingly homeless man threw a heavy glass bottle loaded with liquid at her head, which she astonishingly managed to evade. Nothing was done.
Agree, unfortunately NYPD has just stopped enforcing traffic violations of any sort
Since the laws are the way they are, it’s really not the DA’s fault. It goes way up higher than that.
“Pell saw Morris gather his belongings from his moped, which the police seized, and they let him go. Then Morris walked over to Le Pain Quotidien on 65th Street.”
This is horrifying. How did we get to this point?! Someone on a motorized vehicle can literally run down a person on the sidewalk and cause horrific injuries and then walk away from the police and get a pastry? And he should be approached with caution because he has prior arrests? Is he still riding around the city? I’m livid right now.
Extremely worthwhile reporting. Thank you.
My worst nightmare. Careful as I am (have to be), I know it’s just a matter of time before I have an accident with one of these e-bikes or scooters.
The licensing of these motorized vehicles is essential. I have read nothing about what our representatives are doing to regulate this public safety problem. Sadly, it is a problem that has been allowed to fester, and the genie may be impossible to put back in the bottle. I suspect that immigration status may be at the bottom of the lack of legislation.
I am glad that the growth of home deliveries has allowed for jobs for many people, but everyone has a responsibility for safety on our streets. Stop lights no longer guarantee a right of way for pedestrians.
Respectfully…. please elaborate on the connection between e-vehicle lawlessness and ” immigration status may be at the bottom of the lack of legislation.” That sounds like a biased perspective.
Kasey, you didnt know? Every lawbreaker we have here in the US illegally immigrated from Mexico! We would have utter utopia without illegal immigration! Where have you been since 2015? /s/
This is bigger than Gale Brewer since I believe the problem is city-wide. This is a serious problem the Mayor’s office should be looking into and doing something about.
He should be. He’s not.
Hello State Legislators! Are there new laws to propose, debate and pass to regulate these drivers and for the police to enforce? Walkers need help out here!
In regards to the handing of the A-hole Moriss- New Yorkers got what they voted for.
This breaks my heart. I am not the type of person who gets emotional about everything, but this…this got my eyes welled up. G-d bless you both.
A TERRIBLE SITUATION WHICH IS GETTING WORSE. I FEEL LIKE OUR CITY IS BECOMING TOTALLY LAWLESS!!!!
Becoming?
Yes, these small vehicles go much too fast. They’re fast and quiet, and one can easily look both ways and think it’s safe to walk, when, suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, one of them appears! I was knocked over recently, and even more recently, narrowly missed getting hit. The manufacturers should be required to LIMIT the speed that they are able to go at.
This is so sad, but Im grateful they are sharing this story. I have noticed the safety of NYC streets degrade daily.
These un-regulated mopeds are the latest terrible thing. I have to teach my kids to act like fighter pilots when walking across the street or even on the sidewalk. So many blocks have become seriously dangerous for pedestrians.
Why are these bikes even allowed. I think e-citi bikes should also be removed. Im all for equal opportunity but when absolutely nobody respects the laws in place for safety then the only equal opportunity out there is for personal harm!
First, how horrifying. And, I hope she recovers and can perform again, in spite of the odds.
I think that all e-bikes and mopeds should be ILLEGAL in NYC. Period. And yes, people will still break the law and ride them. But, if the penalty was a 5-10 bid, maybe they wouldn’t.
I also think that if anyone on an e-bike/moped or regular bicycle hits a pedestrian and that pedestrian has a serious injury, they person riding the e-boke/moped or regular bicycle should be criminally charged and do hard time AND be subject to a civil suit.
I’m a native New Yorker and loathe all these crazy e-bikes and mopeds. They are seriously out of control.
Our collective nightmare. I was nearly mowed down tonight on the park side of Riverside Drive by a teenaged boy zooming back and forth on an electric bike (not a Citibike, something fancier.) I told him to ride in the street and he insolently asked why. and said it was his right to ride on the sidewalk. I pointed out that lots of elderly neighbors are out with walkers and lots of people with strollers. The kid was nasty but that’s another story. What is the law? He was basically using the sidewalk as his personal drag strip. Age 14.
Pamela, I’m so sorry this happened to you. And that you’re not getting the justice you deserve.
Who in our local government is the best to write to about this? Would a petition demanding vehicle registration help? Would making reports of close calls to 311 or something be of any use? What can we do? I really want to get involved.
My family and I have had SO MANY close calls with e-bikes and scooters over the last couple years, especially crossing Central Park West. This exact scenario is now one of my biggest fears about living in NYC. Until there’s accountability for these drivers, there’s no incentive for them to yield to us!
Stunning… I’m gonna have to immediately go and read your flower story and look intently at the included photos before my head explodes… either that or I’ll get run down in the streets of this treacherous nighttown, packed as it is with schools of land sharks cruising silent as death.
Well, someone who has allowed these vehicles to continue being used, is responsible. How many more must be injured or worse, before these vehicles are taken off the streets, in addition to those bikes that the city rents out? Those e bikes take away so much space for parking and pedestrians. They’re a nuisance.
In addition, the scooter situation has made it all the easier for thugs to rob people minding their own business while they ( pedestrians ) walk on sidewalks.
This issue has been with us for far too long without city hall or any of our elected officials doing anything to safeguard the health and safety of their constituents. Every time I cross the street I have to look in all four directions and it’s still not enough with bikes running through lights in the wrong direction crossing multiple lanes. Every time I walk out of my apt I can’t let my dog lead because of high speed electric bikes cruising down the sidewalk.
Pathetic police response to an assault with a motor vehicle and depraved indifference to a severe injury. Pathetic Manhattan DA. Pathetic state-level and inert politicians who refuse to act on the need to license all such vehicles and owners.
Wait – how is this not aggravated (if not premeditated) vehicular assault of a pedestrian in a pedestrian zone, resulting in severe bodily injury? Separate from the vehicle illegally ridden by an adult on a pedestrian sidewalk. Separate from the attempt to leave the scene of a violent crime? These aren’t chargeable offenses?? Am I dreaming?? How is this not a severe tort against Pam, who is owed every restitution. God bless this dear family and the brave friends and witnesses, and her recovery.
I’m so sorry this happened to Mrs Pamela Manasee but hopeful that she will recover fully. These electric vehicles are so dangerous. I would like to join your efforts implementing safety measures and laws regarding electric mobility vehicles.
I’m so sick to my stomach from reading this article. I almost couldn’t finish it. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a comment on the West Side Rag on my own electric bike/moped experience. I was so shocked by what happened that I can’t remember whether it was a bike or moped. I’m lucky to be alive, as I stepped into a sunny West 75th Street on a green light when an electric bike/moped came speeding from the wrong direction, missing me by a few inches. HOW CAN THEY NOT PROSECUTE Maurie Morris? How dare he conveniently ride on the sidewalk to avoid heavy street traffic, ignoring not only the law but the health and safety of innocent pedestrians? Does he not understand the sheer perversity and insanity of his explanation? If he can’t hack riding on NYC streets, let him take public transportation. The bystanders who helped are all heroes; it’s comforting to know there are people like that out there, especially in the middle of modern-day Dodge City. My heart goes out to Pamela Greitizer-Manasse and her husband, Jon Manasse.
I’m sure cameras caught what happened, and all that evidence should be used to change the law, allowing the prosecution of Maurie Morris, his conviction and prison sentence. IT MUST BE DONE because if all is ignored, there’ll be more dangerously irresponsible bikers and crippled or dead pedestrians.
Unbelievable. Even guns are required to be registered in New York! E-vehicles and other two-wheelers are lethal as well. Every week brings a near miss as they approach me on streets and sidewalks. State Senator Brad Hoylman, Assembly members Linda Rosenthal and Tony Simone (who ran on public safety as his #1 priority), what are you doing about this? What do you need for us, your constituents, to do to support your efforts?
It’s true and noticing it more and more by the day, the electric bikes and mopeds speed on the sidewalk and it’s our job as walkers to look out for them and move away. NYPD quick to give out parking tickets but this they ignore as well as actual crime. Will laws ever be enforced?
This absolutely blows my mind. I’m an UWS’r, over 65, walk everywhere, often pushing a baby in a stroller. I stop at lights, look both ways, cross at designated walk-ways and STILL this can happen. It’s SO simple: anything motorized, anything on wheels (including bicycles, and I’m also a rider) should simply follow the rules of the road. The same rules we learned in drivers-ed and used to get a license. Drive with traffic, stop at lights, look both ways when turning, yield to pedestrians, stay within the limit, and know you’re driving a weapon. How is this not clear?? WTH, right?
It’s clear that these riders are not held accountable by current laws and that their are no consequences for their behavior. That’s what’s clear.
She’s very lucky to be married. Imagine how much worse had she been single and lost her living and ability to function.
Why can’t city Council make a law re these things. Especially rising on sidewalk? It should be punishable by jail – it’s far worse than pot or crack which have had harsh laws.
“WSR called Morris at the number provided by the police and spoke to his mother, who said she knew nothing of the incident.”
That right there is 75% of the cause.
Meanwhile, our party-every-night mayor should be declared the main contributor to UWS head-on-a-swivel syndrome..,
@Kevin Can you explain what you mean by “That right there is 75% of the cause”?
Kathleen, I acknowledge that this is a VERY upsetting concept to consider: in what setting is empathy and concern for others first taught to children and adolescents? If children/adolescents feel cared for, I don’t think they will behave with flagrant disregard for others. I also acknowledge that there is a CUMULATIVE effect of continuous trauma (and fear, poverty) on developing children/adolescents which stunts empathy, and probably crosses generations.
One problem is that with all of these “speed limited” e-bikes and mopeds they are extremely simple to disable the speed limiter – all you need is access to youtube.
If I don’t do my job, I starve. If NYPD doesn’t enforce traffic laws, they stay employed and get a generous pension for life.
Heartbreaking and extremely angering story. I’m a cyclist, and even I fear — well, just about everything out there, since so many are reckless, entitled, and distracted. Obviously, cars have the greatest potential for serious farm and fatality, but these unlicensed mopeds, e-scooters and e-bikes are only a notch below, and everyone can see the rampant and lawless behavior, multiple times per hour on any given street. It’s common to see mopeds and their ilk on bike paths and the Hudson River Greenway, and how simple would it be to arrest all these offenders and seize their vehicles? As a cyclist, I would welcome a very heavy-handed blitz on all traffic offenders, regular cyclists included!
I love the West Side Rag, but this story belongs on the front page of The New York Times, which should bring all its journalistic efforts and resources to change the law so that Maurie Morris will be prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison. The pastries there aren’t as tasty as Le Pain Quotidien’s. How dare he.
The City has forgotten why we have government. We don’t have government to work on ways to make billionaires more money or destroy neighborhoods by allowing anyone to do virtually anything they want….menace residents, build towers that cut off light and air or look the other way one a behavior puts life and limb at risk. The city has failed us and this woman and her family in particular. It’s appalling. The City Council just passed a law relating to notices regarding sugar content. I wish they would spend their time more productively by take actions that would make our neighborhoods safe again.
Thank goodness she survived. I was hoping that Mayor Adams would do something about bikes, ebikes, etc. I was hoping he would make owners of these vehicles need
licenses and would see that they would abide by traffic laws. I am very disappointed that he has not addressed such major safety issues.
A possible solution, carry a stick and insert into these vehicles wheel spokes. Opp.! Even the odds.
At 1 time The NYS VTL defined a motorcycle as any vehicle with 3 or less wheels, powered by anything other than human power. Ebikes , scooter,ect required a Motorcycle registration, Motorcycle license, insurance, DOT approved helmet ,eye protection ,inspection sticker. In 2020 the law was changed and now it’s the wild wild west. If you get hit by these things good luck, they have no insurance and you can’t sue poor people.
One reason some NYPD Officers are reluctant to do car stops is because after January 1 ,2022 they are required to do a traffic stop report for every car stop. The purpose is to track the race of every person stopped. If an officer stops 100 cars and the 23% of drivers stopped by that Officer are of race A and 33% of the drivers stop are race D. However Race A is only 19% of the population of NYC is race A, and 29% of the population is race D, Someone sitting is some office somewhere can make a determination that this officer is unfair and bias. But if you stop nobody:
I’m not saying this is right I’m saying this is PART of the problem.
When witnesses see him run over a pedestrian on the sidewalk, the cops give him a ticket and close the book on the matter. Huh? Why do we have a police force?
This story made me very angry.
Maybe its time for lawmakers to pass tough laws and deal with the fallout? This isn’t abt racism, social justice, or economic hardship bias. Its not abt a person struggling to maintain employment or a privileged person who wants a delivery in record speed. Its abt responsibility, accountability, and living in a community. Laws and order. Pls value safety for all and pass laws that law enforcement can enforce. Laws that apply to everyone on an EEO basis. Safety matters for everyone.
I am so very sorry .
Wishing you a speedy and peaceful recovery. I wish you could bring suit on the city – accidents happen but this was not an accident this was a punishable act by the driver.
How can we mobilize local officials to legislate about this problem?
This is an excellent and long overdue article concerning th lawlessness of operators of the new type of vehicles, electric or gas, that are now ubiquitous in Central Park and on the Upper West Side. . Central Park needs permanent posted speed limits and enforcement. Driving against the traffic, on sidewalks, and through red lights should minimally be ticketed. Unfortunately, the police feel endangered today, especially if only one officer is present. And new traffic laws may be needed.
These are NOT e-bikes. E-bikes have peddles as well a battery to assist manual power (whether or not these need to be regulated is another story)
These are motorized vehicles. Period!
Many are, and I assume the soon to be majority, will be powered with gasoline.
With no operating license, registration or insurance, they cruise they streets, breaking just about every law, with complete impunity.
It’s infuriating, although it sometimes me laugh as I wonder how the streets of NYC came to resemble a third world county.
I am so sorry to hear of this horrific story and wish Ms. Manasse a full recovery. My sympathy is with you.
I had written to Gail Brewer about this issue in May. About 2 months later I received a written reply indicating that her office had shared my complaint (anonymously) with the local police precinct. What an irony, considering that apparently their hands are tied and she presumably knew that. It’s a case of hot potato- just passing the issue around with no effective plan to stop this dangerous infringement on citizens’ right to safety.
I am certainly willing to join if there’s a group of us that would form a coalition to take collective action?
Anyone want to take the lead here?
So…instead of stopping the kid on the scooter, putting him in a head lock and waiting for the police we must now beat the living crap out of the rider. It’s the only thing that can be done, it will look like they were injured in the accident. Next best is to take the keys and drop them down the nearest sewer and then smash the scooter. These things must be regulated. insured, and the riders must be licensed.
Crossing any bike lane now, I look both ways because there are so many who go the wrong way at lightening speed. Trying to cross into Riverside Park at 59th Street feels like taking your life in your hands. No one stops at the crosswalk, and although e-vehicles are prohibited, still they go whizzing by.
I’m surprised I didn’t yet see a comment on limiting cars as a way of dealing with this. The proliferation of these eVehicles should be encouraged as a replacement for, not addition to, cars. If these vehicles could go where cars once did, none of this would be a problem. We need to get rid of cars, or limit the space cars take up, to make more room for these eVehicles, per what is best long term for the city and the planet.
It has been a while since I traveled to Europe: how do cities like Paris, London, Madrid, Rome deal with the cars/E-vehicles balance?
This is what happens when the state legislature and Manhattan district attorney prioritize the well-being of criminals over that of victims.
Also, the New York city council. Specific names are Jose Serrano, Linda Rosenthal, Alvin Bragg, and Gale Brewer.
The cops have been on strike for a long time now,
This is shocking and unsurprising at the same time. I have been an upper west sider for 25 years and walk that intersection daily. The entire e-bike and moped situation is scary. We have two kids who are 13 and 10 and we reiterate to them often that you need to be super aware. Even then, these lawless thugs (and that’s exactly who they are) can get you. And our weakness as a society to turn a blind eye to this sort of criminal activity has made everything worse. I am tired of hearing excuses about lawlessness — it’s a real problem and we’re all paying the price. Time to act and act decisively.
Until there is an insurance mandate for delivery vehicles, there will be no pay off for the personal injury lawyers. Putting the driver in jail won’t help. But a $10 million judgement against Grub Hub, well that might change the current climate of lawlessness.