This was the year when the movie “Back to the Future Part II” imagined widespread use of hoverboards.
New York, at least, is getting a bit closer as an increasing number of riders hop on new, albeit wheeled, personal transportation gadgets.
They stand on self-balancing scooters, which are often called hoverboards and resemble small Segways without handlebars. The gizmos come with their own safety risks and at least one other drawback:
“You’re going to get fat!” one passerby told Jeremy Epstein, 27 years old, while he rode his in Manhattan.
If two wheels are one too many, riders such as Keith Fridia, who turns 45 on Tuesday, opt for electric unicycles to buzz around. “One wheel—like the Jetsons,” said Mr. Fridia, a barber who lives in Brooklyn. “I do feel like I’m in the future.”
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