Many deliveristas ride some variation of the Arrow, a Chinese-made e-bike that is sold out of storefronts in lower Manhattan under a couple of different names for around $1,600. But the models used by delivery workers can be had for as low as $500 and frequently come with unbranded batteries of questionable reliability. But not all e-bikes are created equal.įancier rides aimed at affluent consumers can easily cost $3,000 to $6,000 and often come with batteries certified by the Illinois-based Underwriter Laboratories, whose standards are among the industry’s most stringent. Delivery work, with its long hours, grueling distances, and low pay, has become practically impossible without the aid of these vehicles, which are well suited to thread through Manhattan’s congested streets.
In the past few years, the VC-backed boom in delivery services has made electric bicycles ubiquitous. Without the means to do all this safely, more tragedy is certain. Commonly classified as independent contractors by gig companies like Uber and DoorDash, they must spend their meager earnings to buy their own electric bikes and batteries, and they often charge the batteries in their homes, sometimes just a few feet from their beds. The people most threatened by these rising numbers are New York’s estimated 65,000 delivery workers. AmWIRItSyo- World News Tonight December 16, 2021 One person was killed and the 13-year-old boy, 18-year-old woman were treated for smoke inhalation and burns. “This is a new phenomenon in the city we really need to get a handle on it.”ĭramatic video shows two teens escaping a building fire in NYC on Thursday by climbing out of a window and using a construction pole to get down.
“We want to really stress the seriousness of this situation,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters after the fire in Queens. These numbers more than doubled from the previous year, when 44 fires led to 23 injuries, up from 28 fires in 2019. These are just a fraction of the fires in New York City caused by e-bike and e-scooter batteries last year, which reached a record of 104 fires, resulting in 79 injuries and four deaths. That followed a September e-scooter battery fire that tore through a house in Queens and killed a 9-year-old boy.
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The force of the blast blew out the windows and collapsed an internal wall, according to the FDNY, forcing two neighboring teens to escape by climbing down a pipe outside the building. Last month, a man was killed and multiple families displaced when the nine e-bike batteries he was charging erupted inside his East Village apartment. Just over two weeks ago, an e-bike’s battery burst into flames while charging in a Bronx restaurant, starting a four-alarm fire that drew more than 150 first responders and left one firefighter seriously injured. The aluminum-foil-lined bin that delivery worker Manny Ramirez uses to charge his e-bike battery.
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