🧠 Need to know this week…

1. 🎄 🎅 Midtown is going to be gridlocked for most of the month so try & steer clear

2. 🧥 ☕️ Spiegel is at it again with Cider & Wax. Hit up Filson on December 17 and bring in your waxed jackets & bags for a Rewax Master Class

3. 🎄 Missed the Tree Run this weekend? Check out some of these reels from @muevelonyc

4. ▶️ 👀 This is a must watch. Great story telling and the cinematography helps too. Oh and there’s bikes.

5. 🔋 Honda’s electric bike plans are out.

6. 🔥 🕯️ For the rider who’s got everything. Here’s a two stroke scented candle.

📸 A guide on congestion pricing in the city

This isn’t about what I think about the cameras or how to avoid them, this is more of an attempt to make sense of it all.

First, let’s cover the congestion pricing tolls:

• Passenger vehicles: $15

• Trucks: $24-36

• Motorcycles: $7.50

Not as bad as we thought, right?

Peak times are weekdays: 5am - 9pm & weekends: 9am - 9pm. Tolls would fall by 75% on non-peak times (outside of the above times).

Drivers/riders that enter Manhattan during peak hours via Queens Midtown Tunnel, Battery Tunnel (Hugh L Carey), Holland Tunnel, & Lincoln Tunnel would get up to a $5 credit. Credit for motorcycles is $2.50, passenger vehicles are $5, and trucks are $12-20.

There will be no credits for anyone coming in to the city via the GWB and no credits will be issued during off-peak hours.

Drivers that remain on the West Side Highway or taking their life into their hands on the FDR will not pay an extra toll.

Whatever your perspective on congestion pricing is, the city will always look for ways to make more revenue rather than shave costs. It’s how it’s always been and how it will continue. Also: congestion pricing is a thing everywhere in Europe.

More info on congestion pricing (costs for ride share, etc) here.

🔈️ 📸 And then there are the noise cameras

A Ducati SuperSport with stock exhaust measures 81 dB at idle and 94 dB. Aftermarket exhaust raises that by 20+ dB.

A new bill authorizing noise cameras that detect loud vehicles is expected to pass this Thursday. Under the measure, the cameras would activate if a vehicle reaches at least 85 decibels from 50 feet or more away. That would likely flag 80% of the bikes on the roads. And don’t forget that some of the delivery scooters are loud af too. Lucky for them though, most don’t bother with plates.

At least five cameras would be installed in each of the five boroughs at yet-to-be-determined locations by the end of September 2025. The way these things go in the city, I’d assume that this is just a minimum with many more to come.

Violators would face fines of $800 for the first offense and up to $2,625 for a third offense. Srs business, guys.

I wonder if this will include the town’s own municipal vehicles. How about garbage trucks at 4am? And the water trucks in Nolita?

🥇 The NYC MOTO Riders Club

The Riders Club has been mostly flying under the radar but it’s time to open the cage.

Here’s what being a member of The Riders Club means:

🔗 All of the Google Maps links from our ride guides. Simply click on the links and follow the same turn-by-turn directions I did. I include .GPX links as well.

🛣️ A new route every week. There is an email blast that goes out on Thursdays to only those that subscribe to the Riders Club. It features one new spectacular route every week.

🤑 Exclusive discount codes to the 🔥 hottest gear. Some of the discounts are higher value than the free subscribers and you’ll also see some exclusive gear/brands entirely.

🌟 You’re supporting the only newsletter for riders in NYC. I work hard as hell bringing you this content and hunt down brands, routes, gear, and stories I know you’ll love. It’s a full time job and subscribers to the NYC MOTO Riders Club make it possible.

Give it a shot with a 7 day free trial:

Have questions about the club? Reply to this email or hit me up on Instagram.

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🙏 Join the NYC MOTO Free Facebook Group

Go ahead and hit up the NYC MOTO Community to keep the convo going.

Until next time!

NYC MOTO

👉️ Buy me a cup of ☕️ coffee. Honestly though, I’d probably buy a pair of gloves.

p.s. Sign up for the NYC MOTO newsletter here or share it with a friend