By Bobby Panza
Several Upper West Side community groups are mounting a fresh effort to block plans for an e-bike charging hub for delivery workers, which the city has slated for installation at the public plaza on Broadway between West 71st and 72nd streets, just south of the West 72nd Street subway stop.
Leading the new effort is the West 71st Street Block Association, which — along with the West 73rd Street Block Association and E-Vehicle Safety Alliance — has been posting flyers around the subway station, charging that the hub would “negatively impact safety for pedestrians, delivery workers, [and] cyclists as this intersection is complex, dangerous, and overcrowded.” A Change.org petition calling on the city to find a different site for the hub has over 850 signatures to date.
“This is a clearly terrible and dangerous idea,” said Katina Ellison, co-leader of the West 71st Street Block Association, in an interview with West Side Rag. Ellison described the busy intersection as “the bowtie of death,” referring to the three narrow entry points for accessing the public plaza.
The “Street Deliverista Hubs” pilot program, introduced by Mayor Eric Adams and Senator Chuck Schumer in October 2022, aims to repurpose abandoned newsstands into charging stations and rest areas for the city’s roughly 65,000 delivery workers. The Worker’s Justice Project, a Brooklyn nonprofit that advocates for better work conditions for gig workers, is set to receive $1.17 million in federal funding for the initiative. In addition to the UWS hub, other locations are planned for City Hall Park and the Bronx.
The Upper West Side site was chosen by the New York City Parks Department, though without any prior public input, charged Natasha Kazmi, co-chair of Community Board 7’s Parks & Environment Committee, when CB7 met on the proposal in March. At that CB7 meeting, a board member said the subway stop is used by 15,000 people each weekday and 12,000 a day on weekends. The board voted 27-8 against putting a deliverista hub at the site.
But while that vote was a strong indicator of community sentiment, the board plays only an advisory role and cannot block or overturn a city decision. In the months since CB7 rejected the location for the proposed hub, the city has continued with its plans, in what has “really been a slap in the face to the public,” Ellison said. Frustration with the city’s continued pursuit of the site led to an abrupt resignation last month by Susan Schwartz, co-chair of CB7’s Parks & Environment Committee. Schwartz said that when her CB7 committee called its public hearing on the issue, “the community attended and engaged with us and we have not been able to represent their interests effectively.”
City Councilmember Gale Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side, has supported deliverista hubs for the city “in suitable locations.” But in a December 5 letter to city officials Brewer wrote that the proposed location at West 71st Street and Broadway “is not” a suitable location. In the same letter, Brewer said she would support naming an Upper West Side site for a different city pilot program, which would install kiosks around the city where users can swap depleted lithium-ion batteries for fully charged ones – thus reducing the risk of battery fires in residences and “removing unsafe batteries from circulation,” Brewer wrote. “I am happy to work with you to identify an appropriate location” for a battery-exchange kiosk on the Upper West Side, Brewer wrote to the commissioners of the city’s fire and transportation departments.
Brewer’s office told WSR they’re exploring alternative sites where delivery riders can rest and recharge their bikes.
It’s not clear whether the city’s plans for the UWS Deliverista Hub – which would include both charging stations and rest areas for delivery workers – will be deterred by either Brewer’s letter or the new opposition campaign by community associations. In an email response to questions from West Side Rag this week, a spokesperson for the city’s parks department said the office continues to collaborate with Los Deliveristas Unidos, which represents delivery workers, and with the transportation department “to develop designs for the proposed Deliverista Hubs at City Hall Park and West 72nd Street & Broadway. We expect to bring the design for the City Hall hub to CB1 and LPC [Landmarks] this winter.” They also told the Rag that while they continue to work on designs for the proposed Deliverista Hub at West 72nd Street & Broadway, there’s currently no timetable for when they’ll have designs ready for CB 7 and the LPC.
The landmarks commission named the proposed UWS Deliverista Hub site a city landmark in 1979. The abandoned news kiosk on the site is not landmarked, but “it is set within the Verdi Square Scenic landmark, so any alteration would require a binding report from the Landmarks Preservation Commission,” said Sean Khorsandi, executive director of Landmark West, a nonprofit architectural-preservationist organization, in a statement to the Rag.
On December 12, CB7’s transportation committee took up the Deliverista Hub issue again. Ellison asked the committee to write a new letter, opposing the hub, to the Parks Department. “People will definitely be hurt, people will be killed” if the hub plan goes through, she said.
Steve Anderson, president of the Upper West Side Coalition, supported Ellison’s plea for committee action. “We all know that the idea of this hub at West 71st Street is simply nuts,” Anderson said.
But Mark Diller, co-chair of the transportation committee, expressed reluctance about writing a letter: “Right now, I don’t know that there’s anything that could be said that hasn’t been said that we could add to the mix.”
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For reference:
My family walks, uses bus and subway.
We do not use food delivery (we pick up if getting take out).
We don’t use Uber.
Absurd, dangerous and unacceptable to site this here.
BTW the first site was to be a closed news stand on Broadway by City Hall.
Zero work has been done there – the news stand remains shuttered.
Why?
Also:
Where do Citibike and “tourist” bike rental charge their ebikes?
Currently, Lyft charges batteries at central locations and then drives to various bike stations to swap out the depleated batteries for charged batteries.
For Lyftbike (Citi) the batteries have to be removed.
Another bad idea by the progressive lobby. Instead of fixing the bike parking mess in front of McDonald’s a block away on 71 and Amsterdam, this will create another obstacle course, trash, and other unforseen issues for pedestrians and do nothing to improve quality of life for the neighborhood.
I don’t see this as a “progressive” action.
IMO it is not progressive to support corporations Uber, Doordash and not progressive to make things worse for pedestrians, bus and subway riders.
Also:
1. How is it that over the past few years food delivery workers have been “dubbed” Deliveristas since clearly food delivery workers are from a variety of backgrounds? Actually until relatively recently many food delivery workers identified as Chinese background.
2. Aside from e-battery charging, why is the City only concerned about a “rest area” for food delivery workers?
Why no concern for the gig workers schlepping Amazon ECommerce delivery? E-Commerce delivery workers have no bathroom or rest area.
Answers
1. Because the Deliveristas are an organized (sub)group of delivery workers and that is their name.
2. We absolutely should have a designated space for Amazon / e-commerce delivery workers.
Shouldn’t it be the responsibility of Amazon / other e-commerce companies to provide necessary support facilities for their employees/contractors? Why should the public pick up part of their cost of doing business?
Erica,
To avoid confusion as there are different Lisa posts 🙂
I posted above about the City showing no interest in ecommerce workers – it seems bizarre and hypocritical that the City and elected officials care “only” about food delivery workers.
I agree with Lisa’s point – the cost must be borne by huge powerful corporations Uber, Amazon etc.
Erica, Amazon can afford to rent storefronts for this purpose – Amazon is a private enterprise and NYC has no business subsidizing them with public land.
Let’s remove the free street parking on every commercial block too – these are private enterprises and NYC has no business subsidizing them with public land!
I don’t hear you complaining about the street vendors who park their supply or personal vehicles in back of their stands all day for free. And what about the construction workers who put a safety vest on the dashboard and don’t get tickets? I would like to have that very valuable perk.
There’s a difference between small businesses and individuals with transportation needs vs. big app companies and the gentrified convenience culture.
The same can be said for the food delivery companies.
A sensible safe terrific location (not)!
Other equally sensible safe and terrific (not) locations –
Herald Square
42nd and Eighth Ave – Port Authority
Lincoln Tunnel entrance
Holland Tunnel entrance
59th Street and Second Ave
Etc
There are constant doom and gloom campaigns from people opposing every change to the neighborhood – every new tall building, every bike lane, Citibike’s introduction, the new addition to the Natural History Museum – they’ve all been met by opposition from people who claimed it would ruin the neighborhood. And then they get built and the neighborhood just keeps getting more and more popular every year (just look at rents!). Can anyone name a single change to the neighborhood that worked out so poorly that it was actually ripped out? People still complain about the bike lanes in the comments section, but they never come close to electing a candidate who will actually remove them. Maybe we should be skeptical about the claims that this will be the change that destroys the neighborhood? And if it’s bad we can just tear it out! It’s not like a deliverista hub is a huge piece of infrastructure. I think people protest so hard against these things because they know that once they get built they tend to stay because they’re never as bad as people say they will be.
Well, Josh, if you WALK then you would understand that NYC has become the least walkable City in the nation in three years. From most to least in three years. Secondly, why put exploding e-bikes in front of an already too narrow 100 years old subway entrance/exit. Fire and subways don’t mix. Thirdly, why fork over landmarked public property to private enterprise? These vehicles are unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured, carry no license plated, and are maiming and killing pedestrians AND riders, because the pedestrians are being hit by riders NOT obeying any traffic law, and the riders aren’t trained and don’t follow the laws. So, why would someone like me — who walks and takes public transportation, has no car, and moved here for the walking — now want every step I take to turn me into a glass bowling pin. I already have PTSD fear every time I step outside, which is all day. I have to walk the City screaming at the top of my lungs at unhinged bikers nearly killing me with every step. I hope all this answers your questions.
Thank you Josh. IMHO, the UWS has become the epicenter of nimbyism!
Dude!
It’s due to the high possibility of these
batteries causing a major fire as as indicated
by more than 50 fires in residences
Do we want this risk at our subway???!!!!!!!
NO
So true. Citibike. Protected bike lanes. Left turn lanes. The narrowing of lanes on Columbus Avenue. Making West End into a one lane street. The W103rd open street. Sunday open streets. All good for the neighborhood. All still in place as they should be. All opposed by a dedicated group of people who seem to be determined to never like anything. That bow tie at 71st St would be a great place for a delivery hub.
Yes-a dedicated group of many thousands of people who don’t like getting run over and injured when crossing with the light or stepping on to the sidewalk!! Like pedestrians, seniors, the elderly, and the disabled. But who needs to be bothered with them when only those who are young and ablest matter to the biker bros and their monied lobby. Clearly they don’t care about injuries as none of them have worked to take any responsibility for them and have exerted pressure on city council and the Mayor to go along with this unregulated free for all. “That bow tie” is one of the most dangerous intersections on the UWS. Great place for more and more injuries and battery explosions.
What does anything about this have to do with “the biker bros”? You may not like bicycles, but lumping them in together with e-bike deliveristas is pointedly off topic here. There are plenty of older people who also ride bicycles, including e-bikes, in NYC. The fact that you don’t (or can’t) does not make it an unacceptable choice for others. If you are concerned about protecting the safety of elderly NYC residents, which is certainly a noble cause, it would seem much more logical to address motor vehicle traffic, which is the cause of far, far more injuries and deaths to pedestrians (including senior citizens). The conversation about bicycles has become way overwrought with paranoia and hysterics, including from those who have never actually been the victim of a bicycle accident, but *have* been involved in motor vehicle collisions.
The bike bros see delivery workers as their indentured servants.
When I’m on a bike for more than 30 minutes I run more red lights than I have in 53 years of driving. An I ride responsibly, never skimming past pedestrians, always yielding to them, and never on sidewalks or the wrong way.
There are far more pedestrian injuries from bikes than the reports indicate because in most cases there’s no reason to report. Insurance for this doesn’t exist and pedestrians are on their own. By contrast an entire industry of lawyers and medical professionals exist to treat and secure recovery for every interaction between a pedestrian and a car.
And yes, I have friends who are selling their apartment here because the wife, confined to a walker, can no longer walk on our sidewalks unattended.
Mark Moore –
Open Streets on Columbus and Amsterdam means bus detours.
Worse & more difficult bus access is not a plus – it is a problem.
Mass transit must be the priority.
Actually shocking that the City would allow street closure on bus routes.
People are upset because when something changes here it’s usually permanent.
Put it in front of my building. The citibike station and the plaza in front of the mosque are perfect for this. The worst location? The intersection of 71st and Amsterdam, Broadway, the 1,2,3 subways and five bus lines.
A sensible place for the hub would be 62nd Street-south side of Damrosch Park where there is a wide sidewalk, few pedestrians and also a garage.
Other more sensible places would be….
62nd or 61st between Central Park and Broadway around the corner from 15 CPW – few pedestrians on those sidewalks.
58th Street between 8th & 9th – sidewalk is pretty wide and there is a garage.
Around Waterline Square – 59th and Freedom Place.
57th and 8th – small fake park where food delivery workers already hang out.
Good alternative suggestions! Thank you!
Where is the W. 72nd St. Block Association on this? Missing in action, as usual.
Aren’t they only a year old? I recall they were active at the CB7 meeting.
These delivery guys pose an essential threat to pedestrian safety on the UWS! The roos cause of the problem? Ouyr self-indulgent laziness.
Make this into a public park with grass and trees.
This “abandoned” kiosk should become a 24 hour a day police station, manned by cops serving the nieghborhood. It would do wonders to calm the chaos around McDonalds, and it would position police to respond immediately to any subway issues. Wouldn’t it be nice to know where you could always find a policeman? Let’s make this happen.
Police stations don’t calm chaos, they create it. https://www.westsiderag.com/2023/10/13/officers-doubled-parked-cars-clog-columbus-near-20th-precinct-its-us-nypd
Where are these Cops supposed to come from? The 20 Precinct are bare bones now. There is a small Police Academy class in now but after that no new hires for several years are expected. Adams is spending millions of taxpayer dollars every day on migrants, and cuts have to come from somewhere. Even if there was money, the profession of Policing has been so demonetized few people want the job. Plus criminals have no fear of the police anymore.
I lived on the corner of 72nd and B’way for 10 years and there have always been 4 squad cars sitting in front of the station and/or across the street at Duane Reade, and this has never deterred the shakedowns, assaults or robberies in the area. I really don’t understand how giving them the kiosk is going to calm the chaos.
That’s is truly a really smart idea. Thank you.
Please add Stellar Management (owned by Larry Gluck) who owns the Windermere (666 WEA) on the corner of WEA & W. 92nd. to your list. Their scaffolding/sidewalk shed has been blighting our block since 04/21/2021. Prior to then, a scaffold was present around said building from 2007 to 2014! I live in an adjacent building so my view of the world has been blocked for over 10 years (& counting)! My late wife’s final views of the street were blocked by Gluck’s scaffolding. Yeah, I’m well aware of the sad history that led to Local Law 11 but this is an example of Gluck, a cheap landlord/building owner, who gets away with reprehensible property management.
Just say NO!!!
Why does this even have to BE on the UWS? Why do we always have to take on everything that the city has problems with? Can’t we just have one year without more turmoil such as adding another shelter for mentally ill & drug addicted, another migrant housing, another shelter for mentally ill & drug addicted, another migrant housing, etc, etc, etc…?
Can we breathe and get a handle on the things here and then take on a potential crash and burn? (which is most likely what WILL happen at some point, nop un intended)
It’s because the UWS is A-OK with everything the city wants to put here that we get everything put on us. There are how many other neighborhoods? Let the Deliverista Hub go in a neighborhood where there are 3 shelters.
How can that tiny dangerous triangle possibly be a comfortable all weather lounge for anybody. There are many empty storefronts. The delivery companies or the deliverista union can rent one or more for actual lounging, restrooms, coffee, phone charging, refilling water bottles, etc., if they feel so inclined. They can swap out UL listed batteries there, rather than charging on site, and the “empties” can be charged elsewhere in a fireproof facility. It will be easier for FDNY to inspect/monitor, more comfortable for the bikers, and safer for everyone.
Go ahead with the plan! There is all kinds of room to the north of the newsstand, well out of the way of pedestrian traffic. The Broadway Mall Association regularly installed large sculptures there and no one complained. But for some reason we can’t have immigrant workers who keep us fed and have the most dangerous jobs in the city. I totally trust that the city won’t do anything to block access to the subway.
Ken,
PS
On Sunday I made food for a neighbor who is ill.
Cooking for someone who needed food.
We “fed” a neighbor.
Ken,
I am curious – do you take the subway there?
Or use the bus?
BTW many people don’t order delivery.
I don’t order delivery – “immigrant workers are not keeping me “fed”. Moreover, I am not interested in supporting big powerful corporations like Uber.
The indoor public space on the west side of broadway between 67th and 68th is already used by delivery guys. It should become the official spot
Put the deliverista hub under the West Side Highway.
An awful idea, again at the expense of UWS taxpayers and their safety and QOL. But I’m not sure what the plan is or can be done at this point since it’s already been approved (like everything else that keeps popping up on the UWS).
Isn’t the city aware that their effort to encourage subway use will be hurt if this subway station is made treacherous by what will be an over-crowding of bikes and messengers on that tiny spit of land outside the southern entrance to the 1, 2, and 3 trains. The fact is that crossing Broadway on both sides of the island is already crowded, dangerous and narrow, also speaks to the folly of the placement of the charging station. Many senior residents in the area cannot handle even more congestion when trying to get to the train.
People can exit on the north side of the station and cross Broadway in either direction at 72nd St.
Do you seriously think the bicycles won’t be coming at you from all directions? Nowhere around the subway station will be safe as plenty of deliveristas will zoom across Broadway, 71st and 72nd.
And if they live south of West 72nd Street?
There are two station structures on 72nd St – one on the north side and another on the south side. One can exit through the north doors of the southern structure and easily cross to either the SW or SE corners of Broadway & 72nd St. It’s possible to avoid traversing the triangle without major inconvenience. FYI – I’m not in favor of establishing the hub there for reasons other than people needing to walk through it.
Exactly!
Boris is thinking like a young, fit person, not like a senior with a cane or walker for whom an extra two or three blocks out of their way can be exhausting, especially if they’re trying to avoid getting run over by the many, MANY bikes now headed for this area.
There are two overarching issues here.
First and foremost is safety. How many fires have we read about in just the past year – often leading to injury, death and/or homelessness – that were caused by these lithium-ion batteries. Yes, I know. There are “good” ones and “bad” ones, and the “bad” ones won’t be allowed. But given the incompetence of City agencies, do we really trust them here? All you need is for one battery to catch fire, in the close presence of others, and then you have a multiple battery fire – a conflagration – which is not only dangerous per se, but will be spreading acrid, poisonous smoke for blocks, not least in the immediate vicinity of the headhouse, the pedestrians, and the residential buildings nearby.
Do we really want to chance this?
Second is the appropriation of public land by private corporations – apparently without even any compensation. This sliver of land is part of Verdi Park, and under the auspices of the Parks Dept. and the LPC. Why are they giving this land away to the corporations that pay these delivery workers? At very least, if this project is going to go forward, shouldn’t the City be demanding a HEFTY annual payment for use of the space?
For these and other reasons, I am vehemently against this project.
A picture, they say is worth a thousand words…for all the misguided , and yes self-serving, ablest TransAlt affiliated cult followers and their co-opted legislators doing their bidding for political endorsements and/or donations…perhaps these pictures will trigger some semblance of reality and some introspection! From NYC-EVSA Video Dangers of E-Vehicles and Mopeds https://vimeo.com/881857690?share=copy
Sure if the recharge station only charges bikes with license plates & insurance
Wanna big fire to disrupt our subway?
This will hapoen here if the Hub goes through. !!!!!!!!!!!