NYC Mayor Eric Adams Holds Press Briefing On Lithium-Ion Battery And E-Bike Regulations

3 months ago

NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D-NY) holds a press briefing.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00All right, good morning or good afternoon everybody. Thank you very much for joining us today

00:07here in New York. We all reap the benefits of on-demand delivery, the ability for stores and

00:15restaurants to have a breadth of consumers that they wouldn't normally have, and on-demand

00:21everything has certainly met its match with New York City, the 24-7 city that never sleeps and

00:28always eats. But just like we all benefit from on-demand delivery, we all have a responsibility

00:36to band together to support those that do the work day in, day out, minute by minute.

00:44And as our mayor consistently says, we cannot work in silos. Delivery work touches many aspects

00:52of city government, and today you see representation from many agencies about the

00:58bold steps that we're taking to prevent the battery fires and the safety hazards that come

01:05with unillegal lithium-ion batteries. Our mayor, Eric Adams.

01:10Thanks so much, Diem. This is something that not only have you focused on, but Commissioner

01:23Kavanaugh has been a real hero, a national leader on this conversation, and she really

01:33placed this on our radar. I remember the first time she sent me a video showing the explosive

01:41power of these batteries. I was blown away, and she just started to go on a crusade, and I think

01:49she saved many lives. Just, you know, look at the destructive power of these batteries, and if you

01:56have not seen the video and some of the videos that's on social media, you should really look

02:01at them. The fires spread so rapidly, and they are difficult to contain, and the FDNY would be the

02:10first to tell you the challenge of putting these fires out. And it's just really, this is a signature

02:18of how government and first responders and communities can work together. And to

02:29of Councilman Powers, here on the city level, and our partners in Albany, sitting in the Kavanaugh,

02:36and Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar, just really want to thank them. And to all the agencies coming

02:42together, this was a public safety hazard, and we approached that. Diem, Josie was on top of this,

02:50and made sure that all of us came together to deal with the dangers that we're facing. And you're

02:55right, city never sleep, but we always eat. I like that. I'm going to say that. And that is

03:03exactly what we have done. Met this challenge head on. New technology was a game changer.

03:10After COVID hit the city, people just order out more. And these deliveries are everywhere,

03:18and we're seeing a signature of that. And since 2019, these batteries have started more than 700

03:27fires, killing 29 of our fellow New Yorkers and injuring nearly 450 more. And they needed to have

03:36been a real plan, because it was causing tens of millions of dollars in damages, and people just

03:42was making basic mistakes, parking at their exit way, at their doors, in their bedrooms.

03:49We saw it over and over again, and FDNY had to respond to that. Last year, fires caused by these

03:55batteries were among the leading cause of fire-related death and injury. And just this weekend,

04:06think about this weekend, the lithium batteries fire in a house in the Bronx left two of our

04:14neighbors critically injured. And that's why our administration has supercharged our safety

04:23efforts. We have done an amazing job to do so. We're going to keep stepping up enforcement

04:30against high-risk charging hotspots that put lives at risk. A real, real win here,

04:38and what we're going to continue to do. We banned the sale of uncertified e-vehicles and refurbished

04:45lithium-ion batteries, a huge move in the right direction. And we're creating the Department

04:51of Sustainable Delivery, a first-in-the-nation entity, which will regulate new forms of delivery,

04:59transit, and ensure their safety. These are all the proper steps. And Governor Hoko has been a

05:04real partner in this area as well, and we're just really proud of what we've received, the help from

05:11the state. And so we are proud to announce that our efforts so far are getting results. In 2023,

05:18there were 18 deaths related to lithium-ion batteries fires. This year, one. We want to

05:27reach the point of zero, but it is real that we're down to one. Our education, our enforcement,

05:36our commitment to this is showing that we're getting results. And we know that one death is

05:41too many. So today, we're doubling down on our success with the launch of our New York City

05:47Safe Charging Accelerator, a groundbreaking new effort to keep New Yorkers safe from battery

05:56fires and use of the state batteries affordability. That language, that's just

06:02welcome-to-New-York language, you know. That's how New Yorkers say they love you, you know.

06:06So before I get into details, I want to be clear. E-mobility devices, including e-bikes and scooters,

06:13are not the enemy here. They are not the enemy. When used correctly, these devices are a convenient,

06:19low-cost transportation option for New Yorkers, and no one knows that better than the Commissioner

06:25of DCWP, who has really made the way to ensure that our e-bike delivery workers are getting the

06:32paid wages that they deserve and information that they need. They help reduce congestion

06:38on our streets and drive down carbon emission, and they are essential for tens of thousands of

06:45New Yorkers earning a living by making deliveries. So by 40, the 40 versions of these batteries and

06:54bikes and e-scooters and illegal electronic mopeds are being leased, rented, and sold to New Yorkers.

07:02And many of these devices do not meet the safety standards and contain uncertified lithium-ion

07:10batteries, and too often they store them in the wrong place, they cause the fire, and it just

07:15endangers the lives of everyday people, as we indicated. So we're excited about this. You know,

07:22public safety means everything to me. This is a form of public safety and protecting everyday

07:27New Yorkers, and it includes New York City safe charging accelerators. And we're going to make it

07:32easier and faster for property owners to install public battery charging and swapping cabinets on

07:38sidewalks in front of their buildings, using our public streets and spaces properly.

07:44So this is a huge change. This is a big change. This is a big deal today, and it's going to help

07:50make safe charging accessible to all New Yorkers and provide alternatives to risky

07:56charging sites that block exits. We went to some of the sites. I remember the fire we went to

07:59downtown. You see one long strip where many plugs are going into. There's just fire hazards waiting

08:07to happen, and this is how you respond accordingly. Taking back the data that came from FDNY after

08:13responding to these fires, bringing back the data, and quickly responding to how do we make it better.

08:21And we're always public safety-minded with hats off to DOT, FDNY, and DOB. And today, I'm proud

08:28to announce that Commissioner Rodriguez and the DOT will start America's first municipal trade-in

08:35pilot program to get unsafe e-bikes and scooters off our streets and replace them with certified

08:42high-quality devices in lithium-ion batteries for free. That's a New York favorite word,

08:51free, F-R-E-E. And so we want to thank Councilman Powers for his partnership on this $2 million

08:58program. Thank you very much. And finally, we need to inform New Yorkers about the dangers of

09:05unsafe batteries because the risk is not just while these batteries are charging either,

09:11which was really something that Commissioner Kavanaugh shared with me. It's not just when

09:17it's charging. It's more than that. Fifty-nine percent of last year's fires started without the

09:25batteries being plugged in. And this is why FDNY will be launching a $1 million public education

09:31campaign to make sure all New Yorkers know that uncertified batteries means that they are unsafe.

09:39So I want to thank the entire team, the Deputy Mayor, the Commissioners, and our elected officials

09:45for their partnership. And as always, we want to make sure the city is safe as we continue to move

09:52this city around. These pictures speak volumes. They are a significant impact. With each fire,

09:59not only the loss of life is traumatic, but also just going through experience of living through

10:05a fire in your home or your place of business has long-standing impacts. Again,

10:10thanks. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. So ultimately, delivery workers need the tools

10:19to stay safe. FDNY is going to give out the information as they have been, but now more

10:25broadly, DOT is going to be hosting a trade-in program for free bikes and making it more

10:31accessible for business owners to host charging cabinets and safe storage cabinets outside of

10:38their storefront. But the message is clear. Do not bring these into your homes. Do not charge

10:44them into your homes. And we want to make sure that the infrastructure is on the street and

10:49available. But getting the message out is really important. And our Commissioner, Laura Kavanaugh,

10:54is leading the charge to make sure every New Yorker understands the risks.

11:02Thank you so much. And I do want to thank two people who are standing here in addition to

11:06everybody else. One is my Chief Fire Marshal, Dan Flynn, who, upon me becoming Commissioner,

11:12came to me and said, I'm seeing something in the data. It's unusual. I need more tools to

11:17break it down. And once he did, he did realize these fires were being caused by bikes. And we

11:22were the first fire department in the country to track that and to understand that it was this

11:26emerging danger. And he has been with me every step of the way in Albany and Washington, D.C.,

11:31helping to let people know how dangerous this is. And I'm so appreciative to him and the team of

11:37the marshals. And then also the mayor, who, as he mentioned, when I brought this to him,

11:42you know, he wants us to get stuff done. And he gave me all the support I could need to get that

11:46done. And we've done incredible things. We've passed city, state and federal legislation,

11:50including passing this through the House, which we were told was impossible.

11:54And he has given us the resources to do that. This million-dollar ad campaign is entirely

11:58funded by the mayor's office. So he has been with us every step of the way in really enforcing why

12:04this is so critical to public safety. And it has made a difference. So something that's really

12:09important to note is, even though deaths are down, the fires remain actually the same.

12:14And what we know is probably happening is education works. We're seeing that people

12:18are keeping these outside, that they're storing them more safely. And because they are, they are

12:22able to get out of their apartments. So they're having these fires, but they're safer when the

12:26fires happen. And so that's why this million dollars is so critical. It is going to make

12:31sure that even more New Yorkers understand not only how dangerous these can be, but also that

12:36there is something they can do about it right now, even as we are working on all these other pieces.

12:41So this million dollars is going to be critical. Also very appreciative to the deliveryistas who

12:45helped us craft some of this messaging specifically to the delivery workers.

12:50Because this is not meant, you know, e-bikes are not the enemy, as the mayor said. And we

12:54also don't want our enforcement efforts to fall on the delivery workers who are simply responding

12:59to a New Yorker's demand. We do love to have everything delivered. I'm sure everybody here

13:04has said something delivered in the last week. But what we can do is something to make them safer.

13:09And that's to make sure, one, that New Yorkers are educated, that our delivery workers are educated,

13:13that we make sure these bad bikes are not coming into our country, and finally, that we make sure

13:18that there's a place that they can charge them outdoors. You know, one of the things that's

13:21hardest to say to New Yorkers is, please charge this outside. How many of us have outdoor space

13:26to do that? And so this accelerator will make sure that we're working with the private sector,

13:31the ones who've really caused this boom in these deliveries, to make it a safer thing to do,

13:35so that when I say, please charge this outside, that's actually possible for our users.

13:40And, you know, one thing I want to point out, we talk a lot about how this is a green energy,

13:43and it's so critical, and it is. But green energy carries as much power as some of our

13:49dirty forms of energy. And so it is no different that we should have regulation, that we should

13:54have safe ways of delivering this energy to the workers. You don't keep propane and gasoline in

13:59your bedroom, and you shouldn't keep an e-bike in your bedroom either. As you've seen from the

14:03videos, when these fail, because they have so much power in them, they do an incredible amount

14:07of damage. And so, you know, these regulations are as important as they were for the types of

14:13fuel and energies we were using in the past. So I truly believe today is such a critical point.

14:19I've talked a lot about what we needed to do in government, and we've done that. I've talked about

14:24what we can do with the private sector, and they have risen to the occasion and are here to partner

14:27with us to do this. And I've talked about how the future is a way that we can use these safely,

14:32and that is certainly going to happen with a safe charging accelerator. So we are tremendously

14:36grateful for all the support we've gotten. We think between this education campaign and getting

14:41these outside, we can begin to look for a future where our members can feel safer, that they're not

14:46going into a fire, where one of these devices could explode in front of them, trapping them in an

14:51apartment, that New Yorkers are safer, that can be confident that they have a safe place to put a bike

14:56and they're no longer wondering or making a choice between a living and their lives. And we are

15:01confident that we are going to get to a place soon where the number of deaths are zero. So thank you

15:05so much to everybody up here for making this possible. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

15:13And it really is a combined effort. As the Commissioner mentioned, it's the public sector,

15:19but it's also the private sector and our city council and elected officials. And on that point,

15:25it's especially important because safety is number one. We're talking about e-bike fires and safety,

15:31but there's another aspect of safety that we're working closely with the council on,

15:35and that is safe delivering. So ensuring that the dispatches are within safe time periods. We're not

15:42incentivizing speed. We're making sure that delivery workers have the same work protocols

15:47that so many other industries have. It is now becoming one of the most dangerous industries

15:53up there with construction, and we need to turn the tide on that. So just like we have regulation

15:57around propane, because the energy needs to be regulated, we also need to make sure that there's

16:03company-level regulation about how workers do deliveries and ensure they have enough time

16:10and enough latitude to do them safely. So really thank the council. As the Mayor mentioned, we're

16:15working on an Office of Sustainable Deliveries, and I want to thank the council for their

16:19partnership in getting that done and look forward to more movement on that. So and with that,

16:25Council Member Powers, who's been a real champion for ensuring that delivery workers

16:30have the right equipment they need to do their job safely and go home to their loved ones.

16:38Thank you. Nice to see everyone today. I am City Council Member Keith Powers representing the east

16:42side of Manhattan, and as you've heard, and I want to repeat what the Mayor said earlier, we are making

16:49substantial progress to limit the fires and deaths here in this city, but this is still not a time to

16:56retreat. It's a time to double down on our efforts to make sure that New Yorkers are safe. It is a

17:01quintessential public safety issue, and I hear from so many of my constituents about those fears

17:06or concerns about living in a building, or I'll wait for this guy to go. We passed a noise camera

17:12bill too, by the way, but it's to make sure that they feel safe when they go home and not knowing

17:18if their neighbors are charging a dangerous battery in their building. So as we've always said,

17:23no one wants to be using a battery that isn't safe, of course, and no one wants a battery that

17:27can cause fire to be anywhere close to them, and that's why we have been passing laws throughout

17:32this crisis to address this public safety issue, including laws to require public awareness

17:38campaigns on the dangers posed by these batteries, and of course this, what we're here today for,

17:44which is the law I introduced to create the first of its kind municipal battery swap program that

17:50we're discussing here today. As we were watching this crisis unfold in this city, I want to give

17:55credit to my staff because they were looking all over at what other cities were doing, and they

17:59noticed that in other cities, not on this specific issue, but there were these types of versions in

18:04other areas where you could swap in or swap out dangerous things, and we talked about, well, what

18:09if we could do that here? What if we could work with our delivery workers and work with our city

18:14agencies, not to just punish, and not just to, we have to do all this, prevent, but also to give an

18:21opportunity for people trying to make a hard, doing hard work here in the city, give them

18:26the opportunity to use safe equipment, and of course we went to talk to our fire commissioner,

18:31we took that deputy mayor in the mayor's office, and all together crafted a program that we think

18:36will be a really successful program, and hopefully we can expand on in the future, but also set the

18:40pace for other cities who might be facing similar crises to see what New York City is doing, as they

18:46often do. So we are really, really grateful today to be announcing new steps in that process.

18:55We have passed other laws in the city as well, banning uncertified sale, the sale of uncertified

19:01batteries here, and, but we already know that there's thousands of them across the city, so I

19:06think this program will say, now if you have one and it's dangerous, and it's potentially going to

19:11put your neighbors and your family and yourself in danger, come and trade it in and make both

19:18yourself and make everyone around you much safer. So we know we still have a lot of work to do,

19:24but I am really grateful that we have this partnership and this collaboration between the

19:28mayor's office, the council, the deliveristas, and the fire department, everyone that is

19:34important to solve this issue. And I do really think, as we continue to roll these out, we are

19:38going to see, continue to see substantial progress. And I just want to end on one note, which is my

19:43work on this was so informed by our commissioner, Laura Cabin. I just want to give her a big thank

19:48you for her service to our city, her leadership, you can clap, of course, her leadership, but I,

19:56whenever I had a question, we were sending testimony to the Congress and to the federal government

20:01looking for other ways that council could be supportive. It was her leadership, her guidance

20:05that helped us get to this point today. So just deeply grateful. Thank you for everything you've

20:08done. And of course, Mr. Mayor, I want to say thank you for your leadership on this issue

20:12and your continued partnership with us to make sure that we keep New Yorkers safe. Thank you.

20:22Okay. And now we're going to hear from Jennifer Rajkumar, who has been a real

20:28supporter of so many of our public safety initiatives here in the city.

20:38Well, good afternoon to everybody. And the growing number of lithium-ion battery fires

20:44in our city has been truly alarming. I'm proud to be a leading voice in our state capital

20:51for common sense regulations of e-bikes, where I have authored a legislative package,

20:58including Priscilla's Law in honor of Priscilla Loki, who lost her life tragically last year

21:05in an e-bike collision. The e-vehicle industry has boomed in recent years,

21:11but government regulation simply has not kept up with this thriving industry. And today I am proud

21:18to stand with Mayor Adams, Commissioner Kavanaugh, and the whole team to take decisive action.

21:25The number of fires has risen alarmingly in the past few years. In 2019,

21:32there were 30 battery fires, but last year there were 238, taking, as the mayor said, 18 lives.

21:41Fifty-nine percent of these fires occurred while batteries were not even charging.

21:48These bikes are stored in many residential buildings, so when they explode,

21:53all of our lives are in danger. The FDNY has performed remarkable rope rescues to save people

22:01in buildings trapped by these dangerous fires. The bravery and dedication of the FDNY to protecting

22:08our city is truly commendable, and I would like to thank all of our brave firefighters.

22:14In response to this growing threat, we have taken significant legislative action in Albany

22:21to enhance e-bike battery safety. The legislation that my colleagues and I

22:28have passed this year includes stricter safety standards for battery manufacturing,

22:34improved guidelines for charging and storing, increased penalties for the sale of non-compliant

22:41batteries, and most importantly, banning the sale of uncertified batteries. These measures are

22:48designed to, one, protect our citizens, and two, ensure that the use of e-bikes remain a safe and

22:56viable option for transportation. Mayor Adams today is taking the bold step to address the issue

23:03with DOT cutting the bureaucratic red tape and expediting the process so that property owners

23:10can install outdoor e-battery charging stations quickly. And I love this type of government

23:17efficiency, making our government work faster and better. The city is also making investments today,

23:24as has been said, a $2 million historic first-in-the-nation trade-in program for unsafe

23:30e-bikes, mobility devices, and batteries, and a $1 million investment in the FDNY for education

23:37campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of battery fires and to promote safe practices.

23:44So I'd like to say thank you, Mayor Adams. Thank you to our path-breaking fire commissioner for

23:49everything she's done, Laura Kavanaugh. And through our city and state partnership,

23:54we will end the deadly scourge of battery fires once and for all.

24:06And there's one woman who has been fighting for a very long time on every front to protect our

24:13delivery workers, and I'm sure many of you already know her, Ligia of the Workers' Justice Project.

24:19Thank you. Well, good afternoon. This is Ligia Hualpa, the executive director of the

24:29Workers' Justice Project, the organization that has been organizing with Los Deliveristas Unidos.

24:34First of all, I want to say thank you so much to our mayor and the different agencies,

24:39including our city council, for doing a couple things. One is guaranteeing that this job,

24:48it's not only dignified, but it's safe for 60,000 delivery workers that do this work to keep every

24:55New Yorker safe and fed, especially during climate change crisis that our city has been

25:01experiencing in the past year. When we started organizing in 2020 as Los Deliveristas Unidos,

25:10our mission and our vision has always been about transforming app delivery work in a job that is

25:16dignified, that is safe for every worker that does one of the most essential jobs in our city.

25:23And we have done that, and we're doing that. And we could have not made possible that without,

25:29first of all, our city council, who made, who actually passed a package of legislations to

25:35deliver labor protections for the first time in history for delivery drivers in this country.

25:42And we're proud to be enforcing with our agency, with the agency, which is the Department of

25:48Consumer Work Protections, that is making sure delivery drivers know their rights and are

25:53protected. The second is about making sure that delivery work becomes safe. And I'm proud to say

25:59that this city, that our mayor, is not only delivering a comprehensive approach to make

26:08sure that that happens, but it's leading the way across the country about making sure delivery

26:14drivers not only know has labor rights, but have the right infrastructure that they need to make

26:21this job safer. And how? By delivering charging stations, especially in a time that is critically

26:28needed as our city depends on delivery drivers to move goods across the city. Second, by making sure

26:36the agency reaches and engages workers through a comprehensive educational approach. And we're

26:42proud to do that with FDNY and the commissioner, who have not only met, but also is making sure

26:49that the approach to educate workers is understanding, speaking the language of

26:54delivery drivers and understanding their needs. And the third agency that we're proud to be

26:58partnering is DOT, who is not only leading the way on delivering charging stations that meet

27:04the needs of delivery drivers, but now we're super excited to see the agency lead the way

27:11on delivering a SWAP program, the first e-battery SWAP program in the nation that would allow

27:18drivers and delivery drivers to transition to safe e-batteries. And this is just the beginning

27:24of something new and historic. And we're proud to stand with our mayor, the agencies of FDNY,

27:32DOT, DCWB, and also city council to make sure that we continue to install and create more

27:42charging stations across the city. We appreciate the FDNY commitment to educate and create awareness.

27:48We're proud to partner at DOT and FDNY to make sure that every delivery driver knows how to

27:55transition to e-battery charge, e-battery, e-bike battery safely. And we look forward to continuing

28:02partnering and implementing, making sure that the implementation happens by continuously engaging

28:07delivery drivers and making sure that we're just, that we're making sure that every delivery driver

28:14can access e-battery, UL certified battery safely and cheaper and free, as our mayor said,

28:23and making sure that we continue to make this job safer and dignified for 60,000 delivery drivers

28:28who depend on this job to put food on the table for their families and to continue to

28:34make the city a great city. Thank you. Okay, and we are now going to hear from our DOT Commissioner

28:47Yedonis Rodriguez who, together with his team, is making sure that these charging stations are not

28:53just hosted by the city but have the opportunity for private businesses and private companies

28:59to pair and get them on the streets to places where delivery workers need them.

29:07First of all, thank you to Yatin, the team at DOT, Will and Irene. They are the one, again,

29:16that's been working so hard for so many months as a mayor, having talked to all of us about

29:21interagency, the way how we've been working in the city. Thank you, the Premier. Yoshi, it's a pleasure

29:27to be here and to be part of this announcement when New York City DOT will play a key role.

29:34Delivery workers are essential workers and as it has been said before, they are a vital part of

29:40our economy. E-bikes make their job easier and they're also becoming incredibly popular

29:47among average New Yorkers. This is exciting. E-bikes help New Yorkers get around the city

29:54and they're much safer and more efficient than large vehicles. But one thing is clear, New Yorkers

30:02need safe bikes, safe charges and they also deserve safe batteries. Again, safe bikes,

30:12safe batteries, safe charges. That's what New Yorkers are demanding right now and that's what

30:19the mayor has been instructing all of us to get it done. Our e-bike trading program will help get

30:25dangerous bikes off our streets and public charging will get risky batteries out of our apartment

30:31buildings. I'd like to thank Mayor Eric Adams, Commissioner Kavanaugh for their leadership and

30:36the crucial role they have played in making New York City the role model in this nation.

31:01And we also have another

31:22important figure in this discussion, our Senator Kavanaugh, who's available hopefully for a few

31:28remarks. We figured we need a second Kavanaugh for this event. No, I'll be very brief. I wasn't

31:36really expecting to speak but just I'm very proud to be here, to be working with a city that really

31:41is working with all of us at all levels of government to come up with really comprehensive,

31:47innovative solutions to a difficult problem that is critical that we solve. We cannot

31:54look back and step away from the growing reliance on electric power transportation

32:03at all levels. It is essential for achieving our goals on climate and pollution in the city

32:09and yet we also can't do that at the expense of these tragic fires. Some of the fires that

32:16were very prominent tragedies did occur in my district. We lost lives. So it's great that we

32:22are here together and the Mayor and the Fire Commissioner, my great friend Laura Kavanaugh,

32:27and Councilman Powers and everybody are working on comprehensive solutions at all levels.

32:33Getting the federal government to act has been no mean feat but New York really played a role

32:37in instigating that. As my colleague Assemblymember Rajkumar noted, the state and the governor have

32:44stepped up with some very important legislation. We're continuing to work on that. We'll be

32:49looking next year. We made some progress on this but really ultimately we need to make sure

32:54the producers of all these batteries are directly responsible for the kind of comprehensive

33:00program that will permit the batteries to be taken back and properly recycled, properly reused, and

33:05properly disposed of when necessary so that you don't have these ad hoc operations in our

33:12cities doing damage. But again it's a great pleasure to be here and thank you Mr. Mayor

33:17for your leadership.

33:28Hi, so I wanted to ask is this going to require the public charging on the sidewalks,

33:37a lot of businesses to do this. Is that going to require a change to the zoning code and also

33:42has Con Ed said that they have the requisite you know power capacity to do something like this?

33:51I mean because I assume it's going to take a lot of electricity to power this. I'm going to let

33:57Will Carey I think from DOT answer that. The short answer is no, not a change to the zoning code and

34:03this is very similar to many other things that businesses plug in today. So we're not talking

34:08about us. Oh there we go. No we don't need that. We only need revocable concerns and that's what

34:18we are announcing today. Revocable concern is like as in order for a property owners of a tenant to

34:25build in the sidewalk or under the sidewalk, we need to go through a revocable concern that the

34:31city will allow that to happen. So this is the easy way to go to do it and this is the good to

34:37do it and this is what we are announcing today that we are starting a process for revocable

34:42concern. So we are announcing the initiative for to provide around 400 delivery that to

34:50be able the opportunity to change the use e-bike for a new one with a safe charger.

34:58You know what's the status on that uh that

35:03uh yeah the content but this content have the uh have the capacity to uh to do something like this.

35:08So these are like case by case but generally um these are very similar to other things that

35:14businesses would plug in so it's no seismic difference than the kind of.

35:20Sorry just add one thing to that. We were also given some extra resources, some staffing resources

35:24by the mayor's office in order to help businesses do just that. So that's part of the acceleration

35:30is experts from the fire department can go talk to businesses about exactly what is required

35:35whether it's the UL certification, the structure of the device or the electricity needed and so

35:40those staff are dedicated just to doing this to make sure business owners know if they can do it

35:44and if they can do it how to get up faster. And what one other possible what's the status on that

35:50to uh the new agency that you propose uh I think it was this year on the office of sustainable

35:58delivery. Sure um so currently the city does not have the jur the legal authority to license

36:05companies that dispatch delivery workers well beyond restaurant including cargo bikes and all

36:11the other on-demand products that you see traveling in carts or on bikes or on mopeds

36:18in many of our bike lanes. The office of sustainable delivery will be an office that

36:24will be an outgrowth of getting that jurisdictional ability to license those companies. So we're hard

36:29at work with city council on drafting what that proposed bill would look like and we're hopeful

36:36that in the fall we'll be able to have a hearing and once the city has the authority to license

36:42the companies it's a game changer in terms of enforcing safety requirements. Today if you have

36:48a safety requirement but nothing at stake if it's violated you have a hard time getting compliance

36:55but if you have a actual license at stake as we see in agencies like TLC then you have a lot more

37:03compliance from the large companies that are dispatching tens of thousands of workers. So

37:08we're hard at work with city council we're glad to partner with them on yet another

37:12important safety initiative for delivery workers and for the public.

37:19Hi um you mentioned working with app companies to help kind of stop incentivizing speed and

37:25keeping the road safer. How will you be doing that? It's what I was just referring to the ability to

37:31license those companies once the city has that authority then there can be requirements that are

37:38a lot that go along with that licensure. So for example you know the devil's in the details the

37:44proposed bill will come forward but for example if you're incentivizing safety rather than speed

37:51you're ensuring that every worker has enough time to safely deliver everything without trying to pit

37:59workers against each other to deliver quickly in order to get more jobs. And I just have one more

38:04question. Mr. Mayor do you support assembly member Raj Kumar's bill that would require e-bikes to be licensed?

38:15We have looked at a couple of bills in legislation and right now we have just a real wild wild west

38:23sort of atmosphere so we're looking over that legislation as well as others that are coming out

38:28of Albany. She mentioned several of them and see how we can coordinate with our deliverysters because

38:33we don't want to be over burdensome but at the same time we want to make sure we can properly

38:37coordinate who's on our roadways. A couple quick questions confirming that the commissioner said

38:43about 400 batteries slash bikes would be traded in? On that one we're still working out the exact

38:52numbers it all depends on the RFP process and what we're able to how how much we're able to

38:57stretch the dollar in order to make get the greatest benefit to the greatest number of workers.

39:03What's the incentive for a business to have one of these cabinets outside?

39:06Why would they want to do that? Often there's a small charge that it goes along with using these

39:16and so there's that aspect of it but also many of these are the same businesses that are working

39:22regularly with deliveristas and so it really helps to create that organic

39:27environment to support the workers that they're using day in and day out.

39:36Sorry can I just add one thing too right now they are making money it's just illegally and so when

39:40you heard the mayor talk about seeing hundreds of these in a basement they're not doing that

39:44out of the goodness of their heart they're charging but in an unregulated and extremely

39:48unsafe environment so the idea is to be able to come together with the private sector where they

39:53can still charge a small fee in a safe way so that we're not you know looking at businesses

39:58that are effectively death traps. Yeah hi two quick questions someone mentioned earlier that

40:04there were 18 deaths in 2023 from e-bike fires there's one death this year so far I think that's

40:09notable it's also notable that this year so far is the one of the deadliest for New York City

40:14people use the streets more than 100 people were killed in the first six months of 2024

40:18historic deaths are you concerned about that Mr. Mayor what are you doing to address that

40:22immediately and then second question the messaging from the city seems to be that

40:26e-bikes are dangerous I've heard from folks whose management companies are just banning them

40:31outright how do you thread the needle in the messaging where you want to encourage e-bike use

40:35but not ban them completely so that the good bikes can be utilized by folks. First look at

40:42let's talk about the last year under DOT's leadership was one of the safest years for

40:49pedestrians because of some of the things we've done redesigning sidewalks our campaign around

40:58a version of Vision Zero and what the commissioner has done it is clear when you do an analysis

41:05of there are far too many reckless drivers there's far too many speeders and there is

41:11properly using our streets and you know I mean I really believe street safety is something that

41:18not only are the those who are using our streets for driving on e-bikes on vehicles but also how

41:25do we use our streets on what do we cross do we cross in the middle of the street do we cross

41:29and the crosswalk all of us have to be re-educated to the large number of vehicles on the street

41:36that consist of our e-hails large number of delivery workers large number of people using

41:44these e-mobility for just transportation we have a different set of usage of our streets right now

41:51and that's why it must be a holistic approach that we all must be engaged in when I looked at

41:56the numbers and sat down with DOT of yes we put a lot of attention on the vehicles but I was really

42:02surprised to see how many accidents were having because people are crossing in the middle of the

42:06street and not at the crosswalk people are walking against the light so we need a holistic approach

42:14to safer streets and we are focusing on doing that because one life loss is one life too many

42:21and that's why we want to be focused on do on doing that now your your second question

42:27second question is just I heard from folks whose management companies are just saying all right no

42:31e-bikes these batteries are too dangerous when in fact we know that that's not the case for many

42:36e-bikes is that their batteries aren't going to explode how do you message to the real estate

42:41community or management companies that hey these are actually okay when they use property don't

42:45abandon entirely and that's what and we believe that again uh these e-mobilities of vehicles

42:54uh and bikes they're not the enemy proper use is what we must do there's a real market for

43:02uh these uh bootleg batteries that we want to zero in on that is our problem that's the enemy

43:09a properly used battery a properly charged battery uh weak it has the right functionality

43:15and that is what we want to do in the power of education the power power of replacement the

43:20power of public uh outside of of charging these are all the things what the commissioner and I

43:26have witnessed is that these illegal charging apparatus people are paying people to charge

43:32within unsafe environments that's what we're going after we're not going after uh getting

43:37bikes off the road we're going after not having bikes on the road look like these

43:42we've spoken to small and large landlords and to remedy they are all looking very much forward to

43:47this accelerator they want these outdoor charging stations so they can tell their residents there's

43:52a safe way to have your bike here so they are they're ready and excited about this

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Holds Press Briefing On Lithium-Ion Battery And E-Bike Regulations

Category

Transcript

Recommended