Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Since the NYPD and Sanitation's joint sweep on July 30, when dozens of e-bikes and mopeds were cut from scaffolding and poles along 11th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, delivery workers have faced a mounting series of obstacles trying to reclaim their property and maintain their livelihoods.
Those who have come to the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street to retrieve their bikes have been met with administrative sanitation summonses under code 16-122(b). Penalties range from $50 to $250, and though NYPD emphasizes these are administrative, not criminal, they still appear on a criminal summons ticket, as one deliverista shared his summons with me.
As such, proof of ownership is required, and only the registered owner with a receipt can claim a bike — photos do not count. Bikes will be held at the Precinct for at least 30 days.
Immigration concerns
For many deliveristas, the real fear is not the fine but the court appearance. Hearings are held at 1 Centre St., and workers worry that showing up could expose them to ICE detention.
Others fear that even pleading guilty to resolve the summons could leave a blemish on their record, complicating citizenship applications.
Tyler Hefferon, executive director of the East Village-based food insecurity nonprofit EV Loves NYC, has been working closely with asylum seekers for the past few years.
"We've seen members of our community detained after routine immigration hearings," he said. "Some have been locked up for years while their cases are processed. Now they're scared the same thing could happen if they show up in court just to get their bikes back."
Rumors have circulated that bikes were moved offsite — one worker even claimed a tracker pinged in New Jersey.
The NYPD insists all bikes remain at the 9th Precinct, with battery-equipped models kept in the parking lot and non-battery bikes stored in the basement.
With bikes tied up, so are livelihoods. Many workers had only recently secured federal work permits and had just begun deliveries. Some are still paying rental fees on seized bikes.
"Every day the bikes are kept, wages are being lost," Hefferon said.
In response to the standoff on 11th Street, Community Board 3 worked with the Parks Department to identify alternative spaces. Community gardens weren't feasible, but the nearby Lower East Side Playground — part of a Jointly Operated Playground adjacent to East Side Community School — is open for neighborhood use after 3:30 p.m. and on weekends.
Parks has since added picnic tables and trash cans, and the space here between Avenue A and First Avenue on 11th Street is now open for deliveristas.
However, when Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer and NYPD reps visited the other day, the 11th Street gate was locked.
After some back-and-forth with Parks staff (and the help of Google Translate with workers waiting outside), the gate was opened, and deliveristas quickly filed into the shaded space to rest.
At the site, Stetzer pressed the NYPD about why workers' bags had been confiscated and discarded during the sweep.
The NYPD responded that there had been "plenty of Sanitation outreach" and stressed that "there has to be more accountability."
Stetzer countered:
The City creates microhubs for large companies like FedEx, but why are these workers the only ones not being helped? They are lower-income, people of color, and immigrants. Why is the City not willing to accommodate them? When a restaurant operates on a sidewalk illegally, it gets a summons; when an immigrant hangs his bag there, they throw it out. Why the inequality?
She continued:
There is one reason these people are here. The neighborhood orders delivery. If the community doesn't want them here, they can stop ordering everything delivered. These are businesspeople serving the needs of the community.
NYPD officials argued the issue is larger than enforcement:
They have to respect the block. They have to be good neighbors. They can't leave trash. They need to be more responsible. And there is an easy answer....the delivery companies need to do more. It doesn't take a lot of money. Give them a rest station, a place to store their belongings. These are their employees; they should provide for them. Without these guys, who is going to be delivering your food? These guys need a charging station ... Until that is provided, where will they eat? Sure, the two new benches are nice, but there are hundreds of people here. Who is going to sit, and who will stand? We need to give hard-working people an opportunity, and this part is not a police matter.
What's next
So far, NYPD sources say that no bikes have been released back to their owners. Meetings with local elected officials and delivery companies are being planned, with the hope of finding longer-term solutions.
Previously on EV Grieve:
