14th Street residents looking for solutions for the congregating e-bike delivery workers

While 14th Street has been in the news recently, some residents hope the city will also pay attention to a different block. 

According to residents on the south side of 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, for several months, there has been a steady increase in e-bike delivery workers congregating as they wait to fulfill deliveries. (Residents acknowledged that this situation isn't unique to this EV block or even neighborhood.) 

According to one resident who lives in a building here, "they are brazenly driving on the sidewalks, littering and congesting the walkways for residents, and blocking entrances to local businesses." 

The resident went on to say that "the problem has gotten substantially worse." Despite filing complaints with 311 and calling the 9th Precinct and District 2 City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office,  "we haven't had much success."

The resident shared this video clip...

   

The residents say they're not trying to demonize the delivery workers who rely on their e-bikes to make a living, instead to find a solution for the burgeoning population of the city's deliveristas.

One solution hasn't garnered the necessary support. Local community boards (downtown and on the Upper West Side) have previously nixed plans from the Adams administration to open a rest and recharging facility for app-based delivery workers in former newsstands, as Streetsblog reported in March.

Meanwhile, GrubHub and JOCO, a company that makes rentable e-bikes, teamed up last summer to open "a rest stop" to help improve working conditions for delivery workers. The spaces offer safe places to recharge batteries and access restrooms. 

There are now two — a small outpost on West 51st Street that can accommodate 15 people and one on 12th Street just west of Avenue A with a 75-person capacity.

In late February, the city unveiled its first public e-bike charging station on Cooper Square, part of a pilot program titled "Charge Safe Ride Safe Action Plan." However, this station is limited to providing an FDNY-reviewed way to recharge lithium-ion batteries. The stations do not offer restrooms or other amenities. 

An e-bike repair shop for 7th Street

MNE Ebike Repair is now open at 117 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. (Thanks to Rainer Turim for the photo.)

This marks the third e-bike shop to open in the East Village in 2024. (And with each arrival, we hear from some nervous neighbors who have concerns about possible fires and crowds of delivery workers.)

The storefront was previously Los Tacos NYC and a barista-training space for 787 Coffee.

The city's first public e-bike charging site for delivery workers unveiled on Cooper Square

City officials yesterday: 

... activated the first of five public e-battery charging locations as part of the city's new six-month pilot program to test safe, public charging of lithium-ion batteries by an initial group of 100 delivery workers. The first charging site is located in Cooper Square ... and is a key component of the administration's overall “Charge Safe, Ride Safe: New York City's Electric Micromobility Action Plan" to support safe e-bike use and prevent deadly lithium-ion battery fires. New York City is among the first major cities in the United States to launch a public e-bike charging pilot program.

The Essex Market will also receive an e-bike charging station in the coming weeks. 

Per the Times:

During the pilot program, up to 100 delivery workers can volunteer to use the charging hubs for free and provide feedback to the city. The program will cost about $950,000 in city funding. Its results will inform the city’s efforts "to expand safe and affordable e-battery charging to all New Yorkers," city transportation officials said.

The new charging sites come amid ongoing concerns over fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries.

According to ABC 7 and other media outlets, 18 people died, and 150 people were injured in 268 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries in NYC last year. 

Last Friday, 27-year-old journalist Fazil Khan was killed and 22 others injured during a fire in a six-floor apartment building in Harlem. FDNY officials said the fire started in an apartment shared by six delivery workers charging lithium-ion batteries. 

Meanwhile, the Times pointed out that the city received "a $25 million federal grant last year to install 173 outdoor charging stations for e-bikes and other e-mobility devices at 53 of the city’s subsidized public housing complexes, but none have been built yet."

It will likely be months before you see any signs of these, The City reported.

And another angle brought up in Streetsblog's coverage:

When it comes to electric charging infrastructure for cars, DOT has been able to install 100 chargers at sidewalks in all five boroughs within 18 months, and the agency is eyeing tens of thousands more in the coming decade, Streetsblog reported. 

Nevertheless, the asked why it appeared to be easier for the agency to accommodate electric cars than e-bikes, DOT Commissioner Ydanis Commissioner contended it was not more challenging to set up the e-bike infrastructure.

Photos courtesy of the DOT

An e-bike shop for 1st Street

Signage is up for 52V Primo E-bike in the eastern storefront at 44 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (H/T Mike!)

The signage says "electric bicycle/motorcycle sales and service." 

This will be the second e-bike shop to open in the East Village during the first quarter of 2024. Signage for Daniel's Bike Shop recently arrived on 14th Street near Second Avenue.

There has been a lot of turnover in the two storefronts here since 9300 Realty (aka Steve Croman) purchased the building in February 2011 for $2.3 million...  starting with Julius Klein's studio/gallery space, which moved on in June 2012. 

Reader report: Apartment fire at 182 Avenue B

The FDNY responded to a late-night (after 2 a.m.) fire at 182 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street. 

EVG reader Joe shared these photos from this morning, showing soot and broken glass on the sidewalk... and a burned-up office chair on the fire escape outside the third-floor apartment where the fire started...

Officials at the scene blamed a lithium battery from an e-bike. (And per the Citizen app: "Firefighters advise that a lithium battery was involved in the fire.") 

There weren't reports of any injuries... and no word on the extent — if any — of damage to the ground-floor tenant, Haile Bistro. 

CBS 2 reported last month that "lithium-ion battery fires are prompting more and more apartment buildings to pull the plug on e-bikes." 

As NY1 reported yesterday: "The FDNY says 66 fires have been started by lithium-ion batteries, killing five people. Last year, the city saw 216 fires and six deaths related to the batteries." 

This past week, two people died after a fire on West 190th Street sparked by a lithium battery.

Tuesday's parting shots

Some e-bike drama today on Eighth Street just west of Broadway... as the FDNY was called in to douse the flames on a bike that caught fire... thanks to EVG reader MP for the shots...

Mayor vows to crack down on e-bikes

Mayor de Blasio announced yesterday that the city will crack down on businesses who allow their employees to use e-bikes for deliveries.

Here's part of the official announcement:

“E-bikes are illegal to operate in New York City and the NYPD is stepping up enforcement,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Those at the top of the food chain need to be held accountable. That’s why instead of merely targeting riders, we’re going after businesses that look the other way and leave their workers to shoulder the fine.”

E-bikes are illegal to operate on New York City streets. According to the City Administrative Code, an “e-bike” constitutes a “motorized scooter” and “no person shall operate a motorized scooter in the City of New York.” So far this year, the NYPD has seized 923 e-bikes compared to the 341 it confiscated this time last year, an increase of more than 170 percent. Nearly 1,800 civil and moving summonses have been issued to e-bike operators year-to-date.

Businesses that enable e-bike use and turn a blind eye to employees who operate them are also at fault. City law states that “a business using a bicycle for commercial purposes shall not possess any motorized scooter and shall not permit any person to operate a motorized scooter on behalf of such business.”

Beginning in 2018, the NYPD will issue a new department directive and provide officers with the necessary forms and training to execute civil enforcement against businesses much more efficiently by allowing officers to issue civil summonses to businesses through the mail. While the NYPD will continue confiscating e-bikes and issuing summonses to riders — particularly those riding in a hazardous manner — officers will step up enforcement activity against businesses that too often put their employees in a position to break the law.

Currently, riders caught operating an e-bike are subject to a civil summons, confiscation and fines of up to $500. Beginning next year, businesses that utilize e-bikes or allow employees to operate them will receive a civil summons and a $100 fine for a first offenses and a $200 fine for each subsequent offense.

Had a successful Ebike operation today issuing multiple summonses & seizing the following bikes @NYPDTransport #VisionZero #NYPD pic.twitter.com/i4qyMykMGr

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) March 22, 2017

Jay Cai, the owner of Banhmigos restaurant in Brooklyn, told The Wall Street Journal that e-bikes are valuable "because of the increased and heavy traffic in New York and lack of parking spots." He said on average he gets 25 delivery orders an hour for a profit of $30,000 a month. Without an e-bike, he claimed that would drop by 50 percent.

Customers would be upset if they had to wait longer for deliveries, and “they’re not going to order again,” Mr. Cai said. “We’re not going to survive.”