It turns out that not every New York official was in favor of the city banning hoverboards in November after all.
New York State Senator Jose Peralta held a press conference Tuesday at City Hall, where he was joined by Assembleyman David Weprin and council member Andy King, to announce the push toward legalizing hoverboards in the Big Apple, the New York Times is reporting. Peralta and Weprin each introduced a bill requesting regulations for the gadgets to change so that they could be legalized.
Hoverboards are banned under New York state law, but Peralta wants to amend that law and make it so cities can create their own rules when it comes to people riding the hands-free segways.
"We need to regulate these hoverboards so people can ride them in a safe manner," Peralta said, as reported by the Times.
That could mean requiring users to wear helmets and knee and elbow pads while riding, and even designating areas in which they can safely be enjoyed.
That being said, these officials face an uphill battle, considering many controversial factors that have recently become synonymous with hoverboards, including them catching fire and being banned by Amazon and major airlines. Regarding the latter concern, Peralta wants to pressure the market to eliminate cheaper brands that may be more prone to combustion.
Still, there are other obstacles in making the gadgets legal in the Empire State. In New York City, police have already issued summonses to people caught riding hoverboards, and police commissioner William Bratton is strongly against their use.
"To be quite frank with you, I think anybody who rides these things is out of their minds," Bratton told reporters Tuesday in a separate event, according to the Times. "We live in an extraordinarily crowded city — you have a hard enough time walking down the streets, let alone hovering."
That being said, the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, has said that hoverboards need to be safer if they're used on a massive scale in any city, so there's some hope that the devices could be legalized.
How long will it take, though? That remains to be seen.
