The newsstand that had been on Broadway at City Hall since the 1980s has been removed, making way for the deliverista charging hub that was scheduled to open last winter. Clearly it’s delayed, but I assume now in progress since the city has cleared the site. (Thanks to T. for the shots.)

(Also, the newsstand was not old, just designed to look old-timey — but it was built in Italy. Hopefully it was saved for use somewhere else.)

This will be the first of its kind — a public, enclosed space that will incorporate e-bike battery charging, cellphone charging, bike repair and a rest station for delivery workers.

The Worker’s Justice Project, in partnership with the city, broke ground on the project in August, testing and upgrading the electrical system to make sure it can support high-capacity e-bike battery charging. The organization is now awaiting FDNY approval for the hub’s charging cabinets, which was expected this winter. In November, they said the hub would launch early this year…

Even the City Hall Park Conservancy folks don’t have answers on this yet. But they plan to talk to the Parks Department about extra trash cans for that intersection, adding signage to the Warren Street shared bike lane and best practices for sidewalk congestion.

When it came before Community Board 1 in spring 2024, the board rejected plans for this location — a historic district — but the city moved forward regardless.

This is how it will work:

• The hub will have two full-time workers five days a week to supervise the battery charging cabinets and provide education for delivery workers.
• Two to three delivery workers at a time will be able to use each of three “modules” — rest/services, charging and bike repair. Most delivery workers own more than one battery, so while one is charging at one of the 48 ports at the hub, they can still be working. There will be an app that will notify them when their battery is fully charged.
• The charging cabinet will contain technology to detect each battery’s condition and whether it is UL certified (as required by NYC law) so that they can connect battery owners with battery-exchange programs as appropriate.
• The new hub will be 3 feet wider and 5 feet longer than the current newsstand; it is being designed by the Brooklyn-based designers Fantástica. (I hope they will make a greater effort with the street side of the building, both for bikers in the bike lane and for the views from across the street. Right now just looks like a solid wall.)

The Department of Transportation will be adding bike racks around the hub. Staff will direct deliveristas to use bike racks and avoid congregating on the sidewalk. Members of the general public can also use the facility to charge batteries and phones.

The city has 65,000 delivery workers, and about 80 percent of them use e-bikes and motorbikes. They are also outside all day long, so part of the goal here is to have a refuge from bad weather.

Funding for the pilot program came partially from a $1 million federal grant secured by Senator Chuck Schumer. Another one is being launched on the Upper Westside on 72nd Street.