Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Signage recently went along 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, announcing a scheduled cleanup of the heavily trafficked e-bike, moped and bicycle area.
The effort — slated to begin today — is a joint initiative by the 9th Precinct and the Department of Sanitation, prompted by a surge in community complaints.
The block is a popular spot for e-bike delivery workers to gather as they wait to fulfill deliveries, in part given the proximity of the under-renovation Madina Masjid Islamic Council of America, one of the city's most prominent mosques, founded in 1976.
The signs, posted in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, and Wolof, notify residents and delivery workers that any bikes not moved by the cleanup date (the deadline was yesterday) will be removed and impounded.
According to residents and local officials, complaints about congestion, noise, and sanitation issues tied to the unofficial parking and staging area have intensified in recent months. The issue has become a recurring topic at neighborhood council meetings at the 9th Precinct.
Police say this is part of a broader effort to address quality-of-life issues while balancing the needs of workers and residents.
While some in the community have voiced frustration, many delivery workers — aka deliveristas — say they've taken steps to keep the area clean.
Several riders on the block pointed out trash bags and brooms they've been using to manage the space themselves.
They also spoke to me, stating they need security here because they say their methods of transportation for making a living are often stolen. Despite using GPS and tracking devices, they claim police are not willing to help them track down their bikes.
In past years, the Madina Masjid mosque has drawn criticism from local residents and business owners due to "cabbies filling metered spaces and parking in front of fire hydrants, in truck loading zones and in bus lanes" to attend prayer services, according to published reports.
Parking for prayer services has been an issue since the religious institution opened, per DNAinfo in 2013. What was once a battle over car congestion has shifted gears — now, it's all about the bikes for some residents.
Updated
Late yesterday afternoon, EVG reader Choresh Wald shared this photo, noting that the city added a sidewalk extension on the SE corner of First Avenue and 11th Street. The perpetual food truck here even relocated to the SW corner of First Avenue and 11th Street...
... but it had returned within an hour...
We haven't received any updates about an extension here... we'll see if we can get clarification on what's happening.
38 comments:
Good. GrubHub and DoorDash are the ones benefitting from this exploited cheap labor pool, let them pay for facilities--or host the drivers at their executive's lobbies and front yards--instead of once again making your everyday taxpaying schlub have to foot the metaphorical bill.
FINALLY.
Weird how this area has so many of the delivery people. The mosque is currently closed for renovation. There is also the Joco delivery bike rental place on 12th and Ave A.
Good for the city. Nice to see them actually dealing with some quality of life stuff.
except that the lousy food truck is back and now its sitting in a pedestrian WALKING lane!!!!
I used to live @ 402 E 11th from 2006 until 2020 and by the time I left this area was becoming an unlivable situation. From that food truck ( that one day showed up in 2008 and never left, never got any tickets etc) to the ebike delivery drivers milling about all afternoon and night, it was time to leave my beloved East Village. I lost my opportunity to open my windows when it was nice out due to the awful smells from said food truck to the constant chatter, bickering and fighting at loud volumes from those delivery drivers on the street who could care less about the tenants in our building. Unfortunately it will NOT stop cuz the 9th precinct will not enforce anything.
The sidewalk extension is ridiculous. Leave the streets open for transportation and parking vehicles, enough with the childish nonsense. I have plenty of room to walk on the sidewalk.
The food truck food is pretty good and they are super friendly but can see why it would be an issue if you lived right above it. The bikes are outrageous and should be ticketed just like UPS, FedEx etc trucks. None of that can happen without a licensing system for all bikes.
It is really challenging to walk through, and I have started going around this. It feels super unsafe at night especially with the scaffolding on that corner.
The congestion is definitely an issue. But I also see these hard working people trying to take a break and eke out a living. And as a female walking through, I don't feel unsafe. Has the been an incident or issue to give us any reason to feel unsafe?
Thank you for this update!
You should visit today. The ebikes are BACK. seems like there are MORE than before the curb extension was painted yesterday. NOTE: a bike rack was mysteriously removed over the past 24 hours.
If police and city officials are concerned with quality of life issues, how about addressing the hoards of crusties who block sidewalks on 2nd Avenue, between 7th and St Marks Place, and also along St Marks between 2nd & 3rd Avenues. In addition to loud, drunken antics, they leave the areas strewn with garbage and food scraps - a haven for rats, and unhealthy/unpleasant for neighborhood residents who have a right to use our sidewalks safely in peace.
Has anyone actually reached out to the mosque for comment or discussion? It doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of community to figuratively bulldoze over the problem without understanding all the perspectives.
In 24 hours it’ll be back to being the same. If grubhub wants to “employ” 80,000 delivery drivers, they need to find indoor spaces suitable for all of them to be when not delivering. Our streets are parks have been completely taken over by them.
Regulate delivery apps, require intense training for the drivers, kick off drivers who break the rules, and require licenses for e-bikes. All of this should’ve been 3 years ago.
Get off of your skinny you know what, go to the corner and get your own BEC. Problem solved.
That's true. We have never been a big home food delivery family and those apps are awful for our local restaurants. But New York has always been a delivery based town and old habits die hard. This is not unlike the demand for drugs from Mexico and then complaining about the consequences. Every two wheeled vehicle in town should be required to have a license. That's just common sense.
The mosque and the delivery guys have been given a break for years. The guys selling merchandise by the mosque blocked the hydrant for years and meter guys would ignore them. And the delivery guys would cause havoc eating... sleeping... watching videos... giving each other haircuts... throwing garbage on the sidewalk. They have even moved across the street to hang out at Asher Levy school to claim another outpost. So the city's solution is no solution. The food truck is back and so are the bikes and the noise and the living out on the street.
How often do you order food delivered?
There seems to be another "Joco E-Bike Depot" forming on the corner of 12th and Ave B as well. Why can't police impound these bikes that are left unlocked on the sidewalk, taking up massive amounts of space?
We don't allow scooter companies to do this like they do in other cities... so why are E-bikes allowed to?
Almost never. Except from my local pizza place that has delivery men
I think it’s nice that these hardworking immigrants have somewhere to congregate, it’s obvious there’s a strong community and local businesses that serve them. It’s not their fault we don’t have tons of public space. Dream on if you think the tech companies are going to create indoor hubs.
Does your comment include pedal bicycles, unmotorized scooters, including the above for children?
You haven't seen the reports about rental motor scooters (the stand on ones)in Queens and The Bronx. When a driver is finished they can just leave them anywhere...there are no docking stations. And it is allowed!
Unfortunately, the city just sanctioned MORE space for the delivery drivers and their lifestyle on the street. I don’t care for all the congregating, the overflow of them into our public parks, and the fact that they do not care about any pedestrians or homeowners in our community. I’ve been hit by one while crossing third ave, the cops did nothing and let the guy go, and every day I have to ask them to move in order to get to my front door. It’s not fair, and nobody mentioned that the sidewalk on 11th is sinking.
There is also a growing e bike congestion problem btw 11th and 12th on ave A. It would be great if there were a few non citi bike docks, not even to charge, but to designate spaces for deliveristas, as well as help manage congestion.
My biggest concern is the risk of fire from direct sunlight exposure, especially as it summer approaches.
I would assume that this was part of some community board committee meeting at some point? Curious if anyone knows.
I lived right at this corner until December 2023 and found this situation a little annoying but fine. Weirdly I've gone back in the past few months and it seems to have gotten significantly worse over the past year and a half. It's way more crowded, hard to walk through, a lot of people are sitting on the sidewalk to eat, etc. As another commenter mentioned, they also seem to have expanded across the street. I'm not sure if it's because a new halal cafe opened at the corner or what.
walking lane? jeez enough already. go to the sidewalk and shush.
I agree. IDK why restaurants do whatever they want these days. Even with the new regulations I STILL feel like I'm walking through restaurants half the time, there is no enforcement, it's disgusting.
Vote Alvin Bragg out of office in the upcoming elections. His comment about not prosecuting crimes under $1,000 has done a lot of damage. People feel free to graffiti buildings, steal etc because they’ll be no consequences. Not that it’s a crime to congregate per se, but if the cops know there are no consequences then they won’t do anything.
Most people living here don’t own cars and our quality of life is better with street features for more space for pedestrians (it also makes cars go slower and streets safer/less accidents).
I have never heard of a walking lane before.
I assume that beige area is there so that the bikes can park there instead of the sidewalk? Is that what it is intended for?
Another example of privatize the income, but push the cost/inconvenience onto the taxpayers. The delivery services are using PUBLIC spaces for FREE. People have such over-reactions when a car pays to park in a metered space, but somehow bike riders get to have a free-for-all at the expense of ALL of us (and our safety and our quality of life).
"Walking lane"?? Those used to be called SIDEWALKS, but of course the bike riders own the sidewalks now, too. In fact, bike riders OWN THE CITY, and pedestrians (whether they're out for a walk or doing errands) are taking their life in their hands just to cross the street WITH THE LIGHT. Any wonder why so many people detest bike riders? Bike riders are the new bro's - the "elite" who, for no reason, get preference over everyone else.
There’s also a discrete joco hub north side 9st bet C&D. Does anyone hang out there?
I am a pedestrian, bus and subway rider. I don't drive. My family does not order food delivery (we cook or walk to get take out). My family does not order groceries - we shop at stores.
It is a daily thing dodging bicyclists.
Actually it is mostly Citibike and spandex who who endanger pedestrians. They proactively go through red lights, go the wrong way, ignore bike lanes, bike with earbuds and/or looking at their phones.....and many Citibikers don't hesitate to curse any pedestrian who objects.
Yes vehicles are inherently more dangerous - but most drivers follow rules while virtually no bicyclist follows rules.
I feel sorry for the exploited food delivery workers but...
Not OK for taxpayers to subsidize or enable food delivery in any way or use public space.
Uber Eats etc should be paying for whatever is needed.
Not Ok for food delivery people to be hanging out. Again - Uber Eats should be renting space for rest, bathrooms etc.
Reminder that just a few years ago - before apps and ebikes - food delivery was local within 20 blocks or so.
No one "needs" fish tacos from 40 blocks away.
Food delivery is not a protected "entitlement" (assisted living LOL) for the young and wealthy.
Local food and grocery delivery was always available for people in need - elderly, people with medical problems and so on.
The supreme irony is that the biggest users of food delivery are the young healthy wealthy - people who could easily walk a block or two to pick up their sushi or breakfast burrito.
As a female, I feel super unsafe around any massive congregation of men who are taking up most of the sidewalk and having to walk through an unlit portion of that. Just because I want to be a nice person and assume everyone is awesome doesn't mean I am going to let my guard down. This is NYC.
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