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Bikers won't like sound of this!

BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, December 10th 2008, 9:32 PM

Vrooom that noisy motorcycle once too often and the city could own it.

In a new bid to stem motorcycle noise, the City Council is set to pass a bill requiring all bikes to sport tags certifying approval by the Environmental Protection Agency.

No EPA tag, you get a ticket, without the officials having to prove the bike exceeded the 80-decibel limit set by the city's noise code.

"Today we go a long way toward taking the squeal out of the hogs," said Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens), chairing a final bill hearing Wednesday in the Public Safety Committee.

Under the bill, expected to pass the full Council Dec. 18, a first conviction carries a maximum $1,000 fine and temporary confiscation until the penalty is paid.

A second conviction hikes the maximum fine to $2,500 and imposes permanent forfeiture.

NYPD Lt. Daniel Albano testified that existing laws require cops to catch noisy motorcyclists in the act, which is difficult and can entail potentially hazardous chases.

The new measure would let single officers on foot patrol - or other city agents - ticket parked motorcycles, he said.

It gives police "an extra tool to get at what is truly a serious problem," said Councilman Alan Gerson

(D-Manhattan), who crafted the bill based on a law in use in Denver.

But biker Bill Ferraro, president of the Union Ironworkers Motorcycle Club, Local 580, testified that "it's unsafe for us to ride when the pipes are too low."

He also said the city can't close its budget gap "with confiscation of bikes and seizure."

flombardi@nydailynews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/12/10/2008-12-10_bikers_wont_like_sound_of_this.html