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NYC bill would require food delivery firms to fund fixes to the e-bike 'crisis'
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Arya Sundaram
Published Nov 12, 2026 at 8:01 a.m. ET
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Willow Higgins/Gothamist
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Nov 12, 2026 at 8:01 a.m. ET
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One East Village block has transformed over the past few years into ground zero in the battle over delivery e-bikes in New York City.
On any given day, hundreds of bikes line the curb of East 11th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A, near a mosque where many workers congregate. The scene has drawn the ire of nearby residents, who complain of clogged streets. City officials have installed bike corrals and hired a contractor for extra street cleanings, and the NYPD has repeatedly confiscated bikes it says are parked illegally.
But none of the attempted fixes have reduced the crowds of e-bikes, nor solved the underlying problem, according to City Councilmember Harvey Epstein, whose district includes the block: Workers need a safe place to park their bikes and pass the time in between deliveries.
Many workers continue to park their bikes at the controversial site in part because they feel their property is less likely to get stolen in the presence of their peers and the mosque’s cameras, according to advocates for delivery workers.
A new bill Epstein is set to introduce on Thursday would shift the burden of solving the issue onto third-party food delivery companies. It would require the companies to create rest areas for delivery workers, including bathrooms and e-bike charging and storage areas.
The bill raises a central question: Who should pay for the infrastructure that powers the city’s food delivery industry — specifically, in this case, e-bike storage and charging? Currently, that responsibility lies in the hands of the city’s estimated 80,000 e-bike workers, largely working-class immigrants who often lack safe, secure storage facilities.
“This is an infrastructure crisis our city has,” said Ligia Guallpa, the co-founder and executive director of the Worker's Justice Project, an advocacy group for working-class immigrant laborers, and its subsidiary Los Deliveristas Unidos, which supports delivery workers.
She added: “Since the explosion of e-bikes across the city, the city hasn’t really caught up with that evolution.”
As food delivery has become a fixture of city life, other blocks across the East Village neighborhood and the city in high-delivery zones have also emerged as informal delivery worker hubs, drawing complaints from neighbors.
Meanwhile, fire-related deaths have doubled in the past year, in part driven by fires from lithium-ion batteries, which commonly power e-bikes. Such batteries have been found at the site of recent fires, including in Sunset Park where six people died, and at a Bronx apartment fire last month where an an 11-year-old boy died.
After decreasing last year, death and injuries from lithium-ion battery fires are on the rise in New York City. So far this year, nine people have died from lithium-ion battery fires and 71 people have been injured, according to data provided by the fire department.
The Mamdani administration has attempted to address the concerns of workers, safety advocates and peeved neighbors alike by creating the city’s widely used first delivery worker hub near City Hall in April. The years-in-the-making, federally funded project includes e-bike charging stations and worker rest areas. Guallpa said the site is popular — but it’s just one location.
The administration has yet to officially announce if any other delivery worker hubs are in the works. But mayoral spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said in a statement, “The administration looks forward to reviewing this legislation and working with the Council to continue to expand protections for delivery workers.”
Mendoza added: “Delivery app companies must do more to support the workers that make their companies possible."
Under a plan developed by former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, and with $3 million in state funding, the city Department of Transportation is set to start installing 25 e-bike charging stations across the city late next year, according to a department spokesperson.
The agency was also previously awarded $25 million in federal funding under former President Joe Biden’s administration to build battery charging stations at public housing facilities, but the federal government never obligated the money, and the city has yet to receive any of the funding, the spokesperson said.
“ I think, just a much better way to do it is to say to the companies, ‘Hey, this is your obligation and your responsibility. Don't rely on government to fix your problem. Fix it yourself,’” Epstein said in an interview.
Spokespeople for prominent food delivery app companies, including Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash, did not respond to a request for comment about the proposals. However, Epstein said he contacted their representatives in crafting his bill.
Epstein said he also considered similar offerings, deployed by Amazon and the urban delivery bike company JOCO, both of which have indoor spaces where workers can rest and store bikes overnight.
“ Amazon, JOCO, it's exactly the same model that we're trying to really make the industry standard,” Epstein said.
He added about food delivery companies: “All we are doing is basically paying for the cost of what a private company is putting into the market.”
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection would set many of the specifics, including the number and location of the rest and storage areas. The agency would have to create the new rules within a year of the bill taking effect.
Guallpa, the delivery worker advocate, said she’s still hoping City Hall will pitch in some way to expand delivery worker hubs, given Mamdani’s vocal support of delivery workers on the campaign trail and in office.
“We need every public official to understand that the root cause of the problem that exists in our city is not the workers,” Guallpa said. “Let's address this micromobility infrastructure crisis by delivering what workers actually need on the ground to stay safe.”
Tagged
Race And Justice Unit
east village
ebikes
new york city
public safety
Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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