Suspension compromise for urban use I ride an eBike in New York City.   About 80% of the roads I ride are relatively smooth and 20% pretty bumpy.  On my non suspension bike the 80% is great but the 20% is a bit painful.

I understand the cons of suspension (expensive, brittle, slows you down, heavy) but having some way to smooth out those bumpy roads would be very nice (on a new bike).  

Are there certain types of suspension options that would minimize the cons while allowing you a break on the bumpy surfaces?  

The biggest con I would like to avoid is the slow down of speed on smooth surfaces!
Apart from going the high-tech route of a front suspension with lock-out, you can also try to get wider tires. The slow-down of wide tires is not that big, but they naturally even out high-frequency bumps. The wider the tire, the smoother your ride gets on the rough roads. Maybe, that's all you need.