Proposed delivery worker hub on NYC’s Upper West Side sparks outrage: ‘Recipe for disaster’

A proposed food delivery workers’ hub on NYC’s Upper West Side has sparked outrage among residents, who say the hub will be a magnet for e-bikes and create heightened traffic and fire safety risks.

The proposed hub would be located in a vacant newsstand at 71st Street and Broadway near the 1/2/3 train stop, where around 31,000 straphangers pass through every weekday. It’s part of a $1 million pilot program by Mayor Adams and Sen. Schumer, aimed to improve working conditions by providing a place for delivery workers to rest, repair their gear and recharge their e-bikes.

But Upper West Side residents are not happy with the plan.

In a three-hour community board meeting Valentine’s Day evening, residents expressed concerns about e-bike lithium batteries, a controversial topic in the city after a rise in devastating fires, the sometimes-risky riding habits of drivers and the mostly unlicensed and uninsured nature of food app-delivery work.

“Introducing a flow of motorized bikes to an already congested area is a recipe for disaster,” Caroline Contiguglia, a representative from the 71st Street Block Association, said in the meeting.

The opposition to the Upper West Side hub is just one example of the challenges the pilot program is facing as the city grapples with how to handle delivery workers. Another proposed “street hub” was recently scrapped after the Daily News reported the hub would replace a popular local newsstand in the Bronx.

The city’s 65,000 app-contracted workers commonly work 12-hour days for less than minimum wage and with few protections, according to Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of the Workers Justice Project, which organizes Los Deliveristas Unidos.

“It’s impossible to ignore that this area would become a magnet drawing more into this intersection at any given time,” Courtney Clark, a member of the community board said. “I have concerns about all the audiences mentioned here, pedestrians, parents, students, the elderly. I also have to hypothesize it’s not outside of the realm of imagination to worry that this might result in increased motorized bike and car interactions, given the nature of the bow tie.”

The area, where Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue converge, was once known as the Bow tie of Death.

Ahead of the meeting, the Community Board received a whopping 203 Google Form comments about the delivery hub. They were overwhelmingly negative. Details of the hub, including design plans, haven’t been decided on yet by the city.

“I want charging stations on the west side. There’s no question about that,” Councilmember Gale Brewer told the Daily News on Wednesday. Brewer wrote a letter last week with a list of questions to Susan M. Donoghue, the Department of Parks and Recreation commissioner.

“But last night, we didn’t get a lot of answers and I think that’s what the community was looking for. I understand the deliveristas have been very clear that they’re not going to do anything without talking to the community, working with the community and their engineers. But until all of that takes place, I don’t know if this is the right place or not.”

“I don’t think anyone is disputing that the delivery drivers need a place to go — it’s just that they don’t belong on 72nd St at the busiest location,” Sandra Smith, a resident of the area, said. “ … It seems like someone just took a dart and threw it at the Upper West Side.”

Pedestrian safety was front of mind for many.

“Stepping off that curb, at any point during the day, is dangerous,” Henry Rammer said. “And the fact that there’d be so many bicycles, who are serving a valid purpose from their point of view, getting a charge or getting some kind of instruction or rest, it’s very important from their point of view. But from the point of view of somebody passing that square, it would be a very, very inconvenient and cumbersome use of that property.”

Residents called for more enforcement of traffic safety rules on the delivery workers before building hubs.

“I’m opposed to any charging station located anywhere on the Upper West Side until the drivers begin to follow the laws that require them to wear signage, maybe the bikes have licenses or things to identify when these guys are breaking the law,” Len Landi, an Upper West Side resident, said.

Not all were opposed — some, referring to the popularity of food delivery services in the area, advocated for support for the delivery workers.

“I would be proud to have this type of infrastructure in my neighborhood,” Priya Patel said. “I trust the agencies responsible to build adequate infrastructure that protects the safety of pedestrians in that Plaza.”

“They’re a part of city life, they serve us, they deliver our food, and they are not going away. We need to accommodate them,” Laura Sachs said. “Instead of being concerned that they’re going to add to the already dangerous intersection, we need to look at traffic studies and reduce the dangers that already exist, while accommodating this part of city life that’s here to stay. The fault is not with the bikes, it’s with the infrastructure. ”

Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance and a Community Board 7 member, said his biggest concern wasn’t the placement, but the opposition itself.

“We need to rebuild and improve the infrastructure of our district and city for the future,” Rigie said. … I think we need to look at this location, do the best we can to keep people safe, give them a place to charge and build our city for the current and the future living of residents and visitors and workers.”