New York City Police Department (NYPD) has released the latest data showing a nearly tenfold increase in the number of “criminal summonses” (commonly known as pink tickets) issued to cyclists in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter. This surge indicates that law enforcement targeting violators on bicycles is intensifying.
Police Commissioner of New York City, Jessica Tisch, announced in April of this year that to enhance street safety, for violations such as running red lights, riding against traffic, and not wearing a helmet, the police will no longer just issue traffic tickets but will issue criminal summonses that require court appearances.
According to the data released this week, riders received nearly 6,000 criminal summonses in the second quarter, whereas there were only 561 issued in the previous quarter when the policy was implemented. The number of tickets in these three months even exceeded the total for the past seven years (5,605 summonses).
Analysts from Gothamist pointed out that the hotspots for issuing summonses are concentrated on several major roadways, including Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, Second Avenue in Manhattan, and Fordham Road in the Bronx, among more than a dozen traffic corridors.
While behaviors like riding on sidewalks could also lead to criminal summonses in the past, the enforcement frequency was much lower than it is now. The significantly increased number of tickets this time has drawn widespread attention from bike lawyers and immigrant groups.
Daniel Flanzig, a professional bike lawyer in New York, stated that the treatment of cyclists is unfair. He pointed out that for car violation cases, they can be handled online through traffic court without the need to appear in person, but cyclists are required to go to criminal court even for minor infractions, creating a stark difference in treatment for similar offenses.
He added that although most clients end up only paying a $190 fine and not committing the violation again within six months, the process of engaging with the criminal justice system itself is an unnecessary burden.
Luis Cortes, the head of the organization Los Deliveristas Unidos representing delivery workers, stated that some riders face even worse situations with cumbersome court procedures and inadequate translation resources, causing many to spend a whole day waiting in lines for processing.
While there is currently no evidence directly linking these summonses to deportation cases, immigrant and transportation advocates had previously warned that these criminal summonses could become a “secret pathway” for deporting undocumented immigrants.