Citi Bike and Revel Scooters Shut Down During Curfew

Gov. Cuomo’s 11 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew allows essential workers to drive their cars — but it doesn’t allow them to use Citi Bike or rent a Revel scooter, Streetsblog has learned.

Revel, the scooter company that has dramatically expanded its coverage area to serve essential workers during the COVID-19 crisis, announced on Twitter that its electric mopeds would be unavailable tonight into Tuesday morning.

Citi Bike followed with its confirmation a few minutes later:

The Citi Bike tweet blamed City Hall for demanding that the Lyft-owned company shut down during the curfew. Citi Bike said a curfew service plan is pending.

Former DOT official Jon Orcutt, who is now with Bike New York, slammed Mayor de Blasio’s decision:

One Citi Bike user, who had her bike out before the curfew began and intended to return it after, said the mayor’s decision is “part of a dystopian effort to cage people in and control them.”

“And it kind of is a bit of a sock in the face to people who want to protest in peace and unity and harmony, but also need a safe way to get home,” added the rider, Lynette Nylander.

Another rider, who gave the name John, said the Citi Bike shutdown would inhibit his work documenting the protests.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I’m using it to ride alongside the protest and film everything in case things go wrong, and as you know, they’ve gone wrong.”

Two hours before both companies’ tweets, Revel co-founders Frank Reig and Paul Suhey issued a statement decrying police brutality and showing solidarity with the protesters.

The company also curtailed its service in Oakland, Calif., which is also subject to a curfew.

Citi Bike’s shutoff was similar to bike share services in other cities, most notably Chicago’s Divvy system, which was also shut down, along with virtually all forms of transportation into the Windy’s City’s fabled Loop, as Streetsblog Chicago reported.

The stations will be reconfigured to accept bikes, but not release them.

— with Dave Colon

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