Outlaws on 2 (Battery-Powered) Wheels Top of Form Published: August 11, 2008 It was lunchtime in Midtown Manhattan last Tuesday, and streaming along 41st Street was the usual cavalcade of cars, pedestrians, bicyclists, even a skateboarder. Amid the crowd was a more unusual sight: three people gliding along on Segways, the two-wheeled, battery-powered human transporters. Leading the trio was Itsi Atkins, who may be the city’s only provider of Segway tours and lessons. His customers were Lauren Greenbaum, 20, a senior at Queens College, who was fulfilling a birthday gift to her boyfriend, Josh Stein, 22, an intern at a Manhattan marketing firm.

Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times Itsi Atkins, who provides Segway tours and lessons in Manhattan, towed a malfunctioning transporter as his patrons Lauren Greenbaum and Josh Stein followed near Times Square last week.

“I was in Europe for a semester, and every country I went to had a Segway tour,” Mr. Stein said, adjusting the Happy Birthday balloon on his handlebars. “They were crowded around the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa.” But in New York City, this birthday party on wheels was against the law. Five years after the first Segways arrived in New York City and were greeted with curiosity and bemusement, their use remains illegal — even after Gov. David A. Paterson signed a law in July legalizing Segways everywhere else in the state. Officials in New York City, where many streets are already clogged with taxis, tourists, dogs and double-wide strollers, deliberately asked lawmakers to leave the city out of the bill. “But we are always open to new ideas and new evidence,” Ted Timbers, a Department of Transportation spokesman, wrote in an e-mailed response to questions. “And the city will monitor and learn from the experiences of other cities and states that permit registration and use of Segways.” The state law treats the Segway much like a bicycle, allowing riders on public bike paths, bike lanes, and roadways with speed limits below 30 miles per hour. Operators must be at least 16 years old and must wear helmets. Permitting Segways on sidewalks is a decision the law leaves to local governments. “I think it’ll be the thing of the future for some people,” said Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol, a Democrat from Brooklyn who was one of the sponsors of the bill. “It gives us another alternative transportation source.” Segways are not completely illegal in New York City. The Police Department started using them last year to patrol the city’s parks and boardwalks. But beyond that, Mr. Atkins believed the number of people with Segways in New York to be quite small, about 30 or so by his count. “When the first bike was introduced in the 1880s, it received the same welcome we received,” said Mr. Atkins, who describes his business and passion for the vehicles on a Web site, segwaynyc.com. “Hopefully it won’t take 100 years for us to become part of the infrastructure.” Mr. Atkins owns six Segways and charges $100 per person for a two-hour lesson. The city considers Segways motor vehicles and consequently, riding one carries the risk of being ticketed for operating an unregistered and uninsured vehicle. But since he bought his first Segway in 2003, Mr. Atkins said, police officers have stopped him only to ask for a ride. He shrugged off the new law. “Legal is a state of mind,” Mr. Atkins said. “Green is a state of being.” Segway Inc., based in Bedford, N.H., promotes its product as an environmentally friendly alternative to driving. But the combination of the Segway’s weight (up to 130 pounds) and speed (12.5 m.p.h. is the maximum) makes advocates for pedestrians and bicycles resistant to sharing the road. “To introduce a foreign, unproven, untested element into the mix complicates the job before us, which is to make the most efficient use of city streets,” said Noah Budnick, deputy director of Transportation Alternatives, a New York advocacy group. After battling the state for seven years, the Segway company is in no rush to direct its lobbying efforts toward the city. “We haven’t formulated a strategy; we haven’t reached out to city officials,” said Matt Dailida, Segway’s director of governmental affairs. “I expect the city process to be just as long as it was up in Albany.” New York Motorcycles, a shop in Queens Village that carries Segways, says it sells about 200 of them a year, mostly to police departments and private security companies, but hopes sales will increase because of the new law. “In the past, when an individual would call, they’d get shot down when we told them they weren’t legal,” said Joel Metter, the shop’s general manager. “For people who have a hard time walking, or need to cover some ground, it’s a freedom machine.” Mr. Stein had been looking forward to his turn on a Segway for months. “It feels like swimming for the first time,” he said. “I would love to get one,” Ms. Greenbaum said. But she said the $5,300 price tag was even more of an obstacle than the law. Their tour through New York City started at the United Nations, headed west to Times Square and then north and east to the Queensboro Bridge. People stared and laughed, the couple said, and the few police officers they passed “didn’t seem to mind.” “People move out of the way for us,” Mr. Stein said. “Which is nice,” Ms. Greenbaum said. “I’ve never had that happen in New York before.” More Articles in New York Region » A version of this article appeared in print on August 12, 2008, on page B6 of the New York edition.