The metropolis’s housing authority needs to bar residents from proudly owning electrical bikes or charging their batteries inside their models — or, apparently, even driving an electrical bike on the grounds — a transfer that supply staff and their supporters blast as forcing public housing residents to select between having a spot to stay and having a job.
The New York City Housing Authority final month quietly issued a proposed new rule earlier this week and solely gave affected individuals till July 10 to lodge objections. The rule states that “residents and their guests may not keep or charge e-bikes or e-bike batteries in apartments or in common areas of NYCHA buildings.” And “common areas” are outlined as “including but not limited to stairs, halls, laundries, community rooms, storage rooms, walks, drives, playgrounds and parking areas” — language that makes some deliveristas consider they are often focused merely for making deliveries to NYCHA residents.
“This is discriminatory because not only do many delivery workers live in public housing, but it would also affect other workers because it would become very difficult to make deliveries in these buildings,” stated Gustavo Ajche, a supply employee and chief of Los Deliverista Unidos. “Every time we go to those buildings, we put our bicycles nearby.”
The company stated that it wanted to make the rule “to prevent fires and preserve the health and safety of residents.” The rule doesn’t apparently apply to electrical automobiles which can be parked in NYCHA heaps or to electrical Citi Bikes or shared e-scooters, that are at the moment being examined within the Bronx. Residents would have till Aug. 15 to “remove” their bikes or batteries.
Delivery staff and their supporters agree that electrical bikes have been linked to home and condo fires, as Streetsblog has reported. But advocates say that NYCHA has chosen the blunt instrument of a ban quite than in search of different methods of serving to their tenants cost their batteries safely, reminiscent of in safe parking areas.
“Nobody should be forced to choose between keeping their housing or keeping their job,” stated Transportation Alternatives Senior Organizer Juan Restrepo. “We understand the real concerns here, but believe this policy will rip away the livelihood of essential workers who make deliveries and punish those who commute to work by bike.”
Restrepo stated that the Adams administration ought to “come to the table with solutions” reminiscent of public e-bike charging stations to assist struggling staff quite than minimize off paths — each figuratively and actually — to incomes a residing.
Council Member Alexa Aviles, who represents Sunset Park, the place many supply staff stay, contacted NYCHA upon listening to of the proposed rule and has gotten the company to not less than lengthen the general public remark interval by a month.
“The rule came out of nowhere for us, and we have real concerns about it,” stated Aviles, who’s having a telephone name with NYCHA officers on Friday. “There has been no engagement with residents about this, yet it has serious economic and civil liberties implications. It’s written so broadly that it could apply to delivery workers showing up with a package.”
Aviles stated that the potential for fires from substandard batteries is a priority, however the objective of public coverage, she stated, needs to be “to propose answers and come forward with solutions for supporting residents.”
The ban on residential battery charging raises points concerning the bigger “gig economy” during which supply staff function. Since they don’t seem to be technically “employees” of the main supply corporations, most staff are required by the businesses to furnish their very own transportation — and most have chosen electrical bikes or mopeds. If the massive tech corporations employed staff as staffers quite than unbiased contractors, there can be a better chance that e-bikes might be issued and maintained by the corporate quite than the employee, which is widespread in different industries.
Indeed, NYCHA’s ban discover appeared to conflate supply staff who use e-bikes as a approach of getting round jobsites with staff who arrange companies inside models maintained by NYCHA, which reminded tenants that the company’s “home-based business policy prohibits home-based businesses that increase the risk of fire or explosion.”
Hildalyn Cohen-Hernandez of the Workers Justice Project alluded to that drawback in her criticism of the NYCHA rule.
“They have never spoken to us about how the industry works or how this will affect workers or how even the technology functions,” she advised Streetsblog. “This is not a way to do policy. If the issue to is to address fires, then no electric cars or electric Citi Bikes should be parked on a NYCHA property, but instead they take it out on the people who can only afford this vehicle to work.” (Citi Bike declined to remark for this story.)
Residents of NYCHA homes understood the supply staff’ and residents’ concern concerning the ban.
“People are using these bikes to get around and to do their jobs,” stated Charles Stewart Jr., an artwork instructor and actor within the Bronx. “There’s a way to solve things without banning stuff. How many fires have e-bikes really started?” (The FDNY didn’t reply to a request for remark for this story, however has beforehand claimed that 75 fires this 12 months had been attributable to batteries.)
Another Bronx resident stated he’s solely afraid of gas-powered bikes and mopeds, that are already banned in NYCHA residences. “But the electric ones are fine,” stated the resident, who requested for anonymity. “Just keep the battery safe. … And what about handicapped people in electric wheelchairs? Are those gonna be banned?” (NYCHA didn’t reply to a request for remark for this story.)
And even a NYCHA employee referred to as on his company to do higher.
“If they could have the electric bikes powered outside the buildings, then that would make sense,” stated B.J Maduro, a NYCHA worker within the lead division.
NYCHA has requested the general public to remark by way of electronic mail to lease.modifications@nycha.nyc.gov. Comments can also be mailed to:
NYCHA — Lease Clause Changes
P.O. Box 19202
Long Island City, NY 11101-9202
— with Noah Martz