Attorneys representing the pedicab industry have succeeded in getting a temporary reprieve from restrictions adopted by the City Council earlier this year, including a cap on the allowed number of operators and a ban on electrically-assisted rigs, until their lawsuit against the city can be heard in court.

From a September 19 Public Advocacy Group press release:

Attorneys for the New York City Pedicab Owners’ Association (“NYCPOA”) and New York City’s Corporation Counsel agreed today to temporarily suspend implementation of Local Law 19-2007 (the “Pedicab Law”) and the Department of Consumer Affairs’ (“DCA”) pedicab regulations until a full hearing on the NYCPOA’s lawsuit against the DCA and City of New York can be heard by a New York County Supreme Court Justice.

Speaking on behalf of the NYCPOA, Chad Marlow of The Public Advocacy Group LLC, whose firm serves as NYCPOA’s General Counsel, said “we are very pleased that Corporation Counsel has agreed to a pause in the implementation of thePedicab Law and regulations until a court can properly determine DCA’s responsibilities under the law and whether it has failed to meet those responsibilities.”  NYCPOA President Peter Meitzler added, “the New York City pedicab industry has been thrown a lifeline, albeit a temporary one.  For now, I am grateful that the hundreds of New Yorkers who earn their livings in thepedicab industry will still have a business to run or a job to go to tomorrow.”

Marlow, who is president of the Public Advocacy Group, was recently named one of the "40 Under 40" — a list of NYC’s rising young political stars — by City Hall News (scroll).

Photo: NYCArthur/Flickr