New Rochelle, NY Mobility & Curb Rules: E-Bike Classes (2026)

Chapter 314, Article I, adopted October 20, 2020 by Ordinance No. 2020-123, defines an electric bicycle as a bicycle with fully operable pedals and a motor under 750 watts, then splits that into three classes. A Class 1 bike (low-speed pedal-assisted) and a Class 2 bike (low-speed throttle-assisted) both cut off motor assistance at 20 miles per hour; the difference is that a Class 2 motor can propel the bike without pedaling at all. A Class 3 bike (speed pedal-assisted) keeps assisting up to 28 miles per hour but only while the rider is pedaling.

Section 314-3 bars tampering with or modifying an electric bicycle's motor or engagement type so it exceeds these speed caps; a bike modified past 20 or 28 mph, depending on type, legally stops being an 'electric bicycle' under the chapter. S. 206, and a Class 2 bike's motor must disengage when the brakes are applied, while Class 1 and 3 motors must disengage when the rider stops pedaling. Class 1 and Class 2 bikes may use any path open to bicycles, though the City can bar them from a specific path by ordinance; Class 3 bikes cannot use a bike or multi-use path at all unless it runs alongside a roadway or the City separately permits it.

No one under 18 may operate a Class 3 electric bicycle, and no one under 16 may ride as a passenger on one built to carry a passenger. Riders otherwise get the same rights and owe the same duties as bicycle riders under the Vehicle and Traffic Law.