The deliverista charging hub scheduled to open last winter on Broadway and Murray just south of the City Hall entrance is still in process — but (clearly) delayed since the original plans. (This is on the site of the defunct news kiosk that has been there since the ’80s.)

It turns out that the Worker’s Justice Project, in partnership with the city, just broke ground on the project in August. Phase one of the plan was to test and upgrade the electrical system inside the former newsstand, 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 is expected in the next month or so. After that, construction can begin with an official launch anticipated early next year.

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.

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.