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Charging hub to open in early 2025 at City Hall
The city approved plans to convert the defunct newsstand in front of City Hall on Broadway and Murray into the first “Deliverista Hub” — a public, enclosed space that will incorporate e-bike battery charging, cellphone charging, bike repair and a rest station for delivery workers. This one, part of the city’s pilot program, will open this winter.
When it came before them this spring, Community Board 1 did not approve the plans for this location (which now has what looks like a historic building but is really a dupe built in the 1980s) but the city is moving forward regardless. (I was surprised to see that the sidewalk there is in a historic district — the African Burial Ground and The Commons Historic District from 1993 that goes around City Hall up to Duane Street.) The city’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee awarded the license this month to the Brooklyn-based Worker’s Justice Project; the site is “owned” by the Parks Department.
So this is how it will work:
- The hub will have two full-time workers to staff the hub five days a week (exact hours are not yet set) and supervise the battery charging cabinets and provide education for delivery workers.
- Two to three 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 (unfortunate) 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.
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So what is to become of the lovely old structure currently there? Could it not have been repurposed? Just – out with the old in with the new?
It is not old. It was built in the 1990s.
Simply unbelievable!! why is the community not getting asked on this??? so now we are going to have the EYE SORE, not to mention the trash and dirty that will accompany this station for sure. The crowds that will hang in there (picture what we see in UWS Midtown west)… and the danger of having charging station on bikes that are known to catch fire. These elected officials are SO OUT OF TOUCH with the community. For real, we have to vote all these people out, they leave no choice. All in sake of this wokeness.
I’m not sure what’s so “woke” about trying to provide a safe haven for very low-paid delivery workers to get out of the weather, have their bike repaired and charge a battery. As for fire risk, isn’t that the point? Getting these batteries into the hub so they can be inspected, (exchanged where necessary), and safely charged? Seems like a decent use of an existing (but currently unused) sidewalk structure to me.
Paul – take a stroll by one of these “hubs” on Fulton St outside Chick-Fil-A
Loitering zone / garbage / noise / loud music / open containers
I’m all in favor of it. Today, it’s an empty, leaking, trash ridden building in the center of an otherwise pretty district. This is offering a brand new building, that is staffed, creating a safer environment for the people who we pay pennies to deliver our food and groceries in rain, sleet, even blizzards. The cost is minimal and it gets rid of an eyesore. What’s to hate?
John,
Regardless of one’s opinion on this, it needs to be acknowledged that many people do not get food delivery.
There are people who cook at home, people who can’t afford delivery.
Moreover, while certainly homebound, the ill, elderly etc need delivery, it is the young and affluent who are ordering most of the instant gratification food delivery.
There is also good reason to be against the public funding and providing space for something that corporations Uber Eats and Door Dash should take responsibility.
Lastly, seems strange to me that no elected officials care about the gig workers who do Amazon delivery. Ecommerce delivery workers have no bathrooms, no rest area, are working outside pulling heavy loads in cold/rain/heat.
They can’t even take a break which food delivery workers could if they wanted to.
Agree with Paul. Right now that building is sitting vacant. A functional repurposing.
For several crucial reasons the proposed deliverista hub and its users blocking the heavily used sidewalk and CH entrance staging area is a BIG mistake. It is surprising the city has approved. It’s not too late to reject. Friends of City Hall Park voiced opposition directly to Workers Justice Project several months ago.
Skip —
With great respect for your decades protecting City Hall Park and seeking public access to City Hall Plaza, I urge you to rethink your opposition to this station/hub.
The station will certainly narrow the sidewalk. But to say it will block it feels like a stretch. The sidewalk is 28 feet wide. I don’t know for sure the station’s proposed width, but Pam’s account suggests it’ll take up 12 or 13 feet, leaving a bit more than half the width. (The design should encourage deliveristas and others to congregate at either end to leave room for foot traffic.)
I happen to live across the street from Laughing Man Cafe, on Duane. Patrons and others just hanging out sometimes take up much of the far smaller sidewalk width. Pedestrians seem to manage.
Fyi, I’m not a fan of the proliferation of food-delivery mopeds or ebikes. When I bike across any East River bridge I invariably see food-delivery riders going from one borough to another, which is absurd from an overall civic standpoint. I’ve tried to drum up support for a mileage-based tax on longer-distance food delivery to encourage ordering locally or not at all. No takers.
The delivery riders I chat with on my daily biking rounds are unfailingly nice. Yes, they require me to be hyper-alert in the bike lanes, but if one bangs into me I’m not going to die as I would from an SUV. That aside, this new hub is sorely needed and the spot probably ranks in the 99th percentile of good-siting principles. Let’s work on optimizing it, not blocking it.
Komanoff – Two things…
One, you are assuming “The design should encourage deliveristas and others to congregate at either end to leave room for foot traffic.”. This has not been the New York experience. We fear for our safety when stepping out to run errands, and taking leisurely walks through our parks. There is no consideration.
Two, you again assume “…if one bangs into me I’m not going to die as I would from an SUV.” You may want to read up on all the accidents, and those who have been killed.
New Yorkers want to feel safe, and what is needed most, prior to accommodating delivery workers with hubs, etc, is that they obey the bike laws, which they are not doing. However, we need to point the finger at our current leaders, those who are not enforcing the laws. This is our greatest trouble, and one that needs attention in the next election.
Komanoff,
With respect, do not understand why you think public space and public monies should be used for a purpose that rich and powerful corporations should be responsible for?
why should we be encouraging the massive corporate food delivery sector?
It is pretty horrible to see the massive food delivery in one of the most walkable places.
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in “I can do what I want/rules don’t apply to me” throughout NYC – and including the City Hall area.
Among other things in/around City Hall/City Hall Park, there are more street vendors, more people walking dogs in the green/no dogs area, more bicyclists ignoring traffic rules & endangering pedestrians, more trash, migrants selling cut-up fruit, more emotionally disturbed people roaming, etc.
If the City is developing this site, the City needs to ensure that users know, respect and follow rules.
Regarding the new “migrants” doing food delivery…..it does them no favors to not provide guidelines and not be clear about expectations and rules in NYC.
No one would think it was OK for an American to go to Bali, for example, and behave badly, leave trash, ignore local rules etc.
How about we enforce our existing bike laws – prior to accommodating delivery workers, who don’t respect the laws
and put us at risk! I’m just one of many upper west side New Yorkers fighting to stop the station scheduled for our location. What can we all do? Elect better leaders, who have their priorities right. Goodbye Eric Adams and Gale Brewer! We’ve had enough!
Until SOME of you cyclists start respecting the law, NONE of you deserve any improvement or safety or quality of life.
I worry about pedestrian safety regardless of benefits and aesthetics.
Too many harrowing close calls already with bikes of any kind in / around the park walking with my infirm mother.
Allowing motorized ‘bikes’ in park ‘greenways’ and ‘drives’ – which City Hall Park is classified to have – made it noticeably more dangerous (2023-2025 Adams pilot).
A hub will increase probability of an accident by encouraging the conditions for it. 99 great drivers. 1 total accident.
(Small) parks are recreational spaces – even demonstration spaces. Certainly NOT streets for vehicles.
Does common sense require a lawsuit AFTER someone’s life is ruined?
1) Yes it could have been repurposed and although not new was designed to blend with the historic nature of the district. Yes the Parks Conservancy offered other locations and so did the CB. For this one location it was originally “sold as” repurposing the structure but there is more money involved with ripping it down and then later adding revenue generating opportunities like…advertising.
2) Original faced the other direction to keep bikes OFF the sidewalk but they turned to open on sidewalk and said racks and bike lanes would be built on the roadbed on Broadway but … then changed again which means they are coming at some point but the placards pushed back for now. The new design change also diminished the total size of the rest area inside vs charging areas.
3) 100% – this site and its new use compromises pedestrian safety, pedestrian mobility and accessibility. This specific area is Prime area for protests… tons of great photos of protests in the area with a FULL sidewalk….
4) The station will provides an area to battery swap but does not add any rest room facilities which other locations offered would.
5) CIty stated this location chosen 1st for speed with DOT vs other city agencies. Other locations could have had bathroom access and not be on a sidewalk…
TM,
Although I am not a fan of this for various reasons, it does seem to be a relatively practical site as it is a wide sidewalk and not usually super-crowded.
Actually I think the City should use the median space on Allen Street for this. Plenty of room, little community use, food delivery workers already hang out there, and it is near various Chinatown/LES e-bike shops.
Regarding bathrooms, City law requires restaurants to allow food delivery workers access to restaurant bathrooms.
(In contrast, taxi drivers, Uber drivers, ecommerce delivery workers etc have no bathroom access.)
But ultimately the responsibility and cost should be on Uber Eats and Door Dash
The site will add more bikes onto the sidewalks as there is no bike lane on that side of the street nor parking. Both paths Cyclists have will encourage them to be on the sidewalk for a long stretch from Ann St to Chambers which is NOT safe: 1) take the park row bike lanes and then ride up the sidewalk from the southern end of the park OR 2) ride down the sidewalk from the bike lane and greenway that go through City Hall Park.
All of the sidewalks and the greenway in the park have heavy pedestrian use during the day. I agree evenings and weekends (unless protests are there) are quieter but this is a 24 hour hub and pedestrians priority is the one path they are allowed on – SIDEWALKS.
This pet project from City Hall and Senator had a deadline for funding so speed of installation was priority #1 – not best location. It will be a convenient backdrop for press events when they secure the sidewalks to lessen the # of people who walk by.
NYC should force Uber Eats to be responsible and pay for any charging and rest area.
That said, sites that would make sense:
The “open streets” aka closed street area of Broadway 23-32nd Street (lots of room).
The Allen Street median which was suggested.
What would really make sense – if Uber made deals so that delivery people could use individual garages across the City.
Yes! Moving the expensive investment that we made for this carefully-designed and fabricated historical recreation to the North East Plaza at the foot of the Brklyn Bridge pedestrian entrance repurposed as an information booth is a sensible solution, even an improvement!
Keep that congested sidewalk clear!
Put the industrial deliverista hub in front of NYPD hq, convenient to the bridge and w plenty of empty space, plus police oversight of the many lawless e-cyclists.