Transcript: Mayor Adams Takes New Actions To Prevent Deadly Lithium Ion Battery Fires, Promote Safe E Bike Charging And Usage

July 22, 2024

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: All right, good morning or good afternoon, everybody. Thank you very much for joining us today here in New York. We all reap the benefits of on-demand delivery, the ability for stores and restaurants to have a breadth of consumers that they wouldn't normally have. On-demand everything has certainly met its match with New York City, the 24/7 city that never sleeps and always eats.

Just like we all benefit from on-demand delivery, we all have a responsibility to band together to support those that do the work, day in, day out, minute by minute. As our mayor consistently says, we cannot work in silos. Delivery work touches many aspects of city government, and today representation from many agencies about the bold steps that we're taking to prevent the battery fires and the safety hazards that come with illegal lithium-ion batteries. Our mayor, Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thanks so much, DM. This is something that not only have you focused on, but Commissioner Kavanagh has been a real hero, a national leader on this conversation. She really placed this on our radar. I remember the first time she sent me a video showing the explosive power of these batteries. I was blown away, and she just started to go on a crusade, and I think she saved many lives.

Just look at the destructive power of these batteries. If you have not seen the video and some of the videos that's on social media, you should really look at them. The fires spread so rapidly, and they are difficult to contain, and the FDNY will be the first to tell you the challenge of putting these fires out. It's just really, this is a signature of how government and first responders and communities can work together to Councilman Powers, here on the city level, and our partners in Albany, Senator Kavanagh, and Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, just really want to thank them. To all the agencies coming together, this was a public safety hazard, and we approached that. DM Joshi was on top of this, and made sure that all of us came together to deal with the dangers that we're facing.

You're right, the city never sleeps, but we always eat. I like that. I'm going to say that. That is exactly what we have done. We met this challenge head on. New technology was a game changer after COVID hit the city. People just order out more. These deliveries are everywhere, and we're seeing a signature of that. Since 2019, these batteries have started more than 700 fires, killing 29 of our fellow New Yorkers, and injuring nearly 450 more. There needed to have been a real plan, because it was causing tens of millions of dollars in damages, and people just was making basic mistakes, parking at their exit way, at their doors, in their bedrooms. We saw it over and over again, and FDNY had to respond to that.

Last year, fires caused by these batteries were among the leading cause of fire-related death and injury. Just this weekend, think about this weekend, the lithium batteries fire in a house in the Bronx left two of our neighbors critically injured. That's why our administration has super-charged our safety efforts. We have done an amazing job to do so. We're going to keep stepping up enforcement against high-risk charging hotspots that put lives at risk. A real win here, and what we're going to continue to do.

We banned the sale of uncertified e-vehicles and refurbished lithium-ion batteries, a huge move in the right direction, and we're creating the Department of Sustainable Delivery, a first-in-the-nation entity, which will regulate new forms of delivery, transit, and ensure their safety. These are all the proper steps, and Governor Hochul has been a real partner in this area as well, and we're just really proud of what we've received, the help from the state.

We are proud to announce that our efforts so far are getting results. In 2023, there were 18 deaths related to lithium-ion battery fires. This year, one. We want to reach the point of zero, but it is real that we're down to one. Our education, our enforcement, our commitment to this is showing that we're getting results, and we know that one death is too many. Today, we're doubling down on our success with the launch of our New York City Safe Charging Accelerator, a groundbreaking new effort to keep New Yorkers safe from battery fires and use of the state batteries affordability. That language, that's just welcome-to-New-York language. That's how New Yorkers say they love you.

Before I get into details, I want to be clear. E-mobility devices, including e-bikes and scooters, are not the enemy here. They are not the enemy. When used correctly, these devices are a convenient, low-cost transportation option for New Yorkers, and no one knows that better than the commissioner of DCWP, who has really made the way to ensure that our e-bike delivery workers are getting the wages that they deserve and information that they need. They help reduce congestion on our streets and drive down carbon emission, and they are essential for tens of thousands of New Yorkers earning a living by making deliveries.

The faulty versions of these batteries and bikes and e-scooters and illegal electronic mopeds are being leased, rented, and sold to New Yorkers. Many of these devices do not meet the safety standards and contain uncertified lithium-ion batteries. Too often, they store them in the wrong place, they cause the fire, and it just endangers the lives of everyday people, as we indicated. We're excited about this. Public safety means everything to me, and this is a form of public safety and protecting everyday New Yorkers, and it includes New York City Safe Charging Accelerator.

We're going to make it easier and faster for property owners to install public battery charging and swapping cabinets on sidewalks in front of their buildings, using our public streets and spaces properly. This is a huge change. This is a big change. This is a big deal today, and it's going to help make safe charging accessible to all New Yorkers and provide alternatives to risky charging sites that block exits. We went to some of the sites. I remember the fire we went to downtown. You see one long strip where many plugs are going into. They're just fire hazards waiting to happen, and this is how you respond accordingly.

Taking back the data that came from FDNY after responding to these fires, bringing back the data and quickly responding to how do we make it better. We're always public safety-minded. Hats off to DOT, FDNY, and DOB, and today I'm proud to announce that Commissioner Rodriguez and the DOT will start America's first municipal trade-in pilot program to get unsafe e-bikes and scooters off our streets and replace them with certified high-quality devices and lithium-ion batteries for free. That's a New York favorite word, free, F-R-E-E. We want to thank Councilman Powers for his partnership on this $2 million program. Thank you very much.

Finally, we need to inform New Yorkers about the dangers of unsafe batteries because the risk is not just while these batteries are charging either, which was really something that Commissioner Kavanagh shared with me. It's not just when it's charging. It's more than that. 59 percent of last-year fires started without the batteries being plugged in, and this is why FDNY will be launching a $1 million public education campaign to make sure all New Yorkers know that uncertified batteries means that they are unsafe.

I want to thank the entire team, the deputy mayor, the commissioners, and our elected officials for their partnership. As always, we want to make sure the city is safe as we continue to move this city around. These pictures speak volumes. They are a significant impact. With each fire, not only the loss of life is traumatic, but also just going through experience of living through a fire in your home or your place of business has long-standing impacts. Again, thanks. Thank you so much.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you. Ultimately, delivery workers need the tools to stay safe. FDNY is going to give out the information as they have been, but now more broadly, DOT is going to be hosting a trade-in program for free bikes and making it more accessible for business owners to host charging cabinets and safe storage cabinets outside of their storefront. The message is clear. Do not bring these into your homes. Do not charge them into your homes. We want to make sure that the infrastructure is on the street and available. Getting the message out is really important, and our commissioner, Laura Kavanagh, is leading the charge to make sure every New Yorker understands the risks.

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh: Thank you so much, and I do want to thank two people who are standing here in addition to everybody else. One is my chief fire marshal, Dan Flynn, who, upon me becoming commissioner, came to me and said, I'm seeing something in the data. It's unusual. I need more tools to break it down. Once he did, he did realize these fires were being caused by bikes. We were the first fire department in the country to track that and to understand that it was this emerging danger. He has been with me every step of the way in Albany and Washington, D.C., helping to let people know how dangerous this is. I'm so appreciative to him and the team of the marshals.

Then also the mayor, who, as he mentioned, when I brought this to him, he wants us to get stuff done, and he gave me all the support I could need to get that done. We've done incredible things. We've passed city, state, and federal legislation, including passing this through the House, which we were told was impossible. He has given us the resources to do that. This million-dollar ad campaign is entirely funded by the Mayor's Office. He has been with us every step of the way in really enforcing why this is so critical to public safety.

It has made a difference. Something that's really important to note is even though deaths are down, the fires remain actually the same. What we know is probably happening is education works. We're seeing that people are keeping these outside, that they're storing them more safely. Because they are, they are able to get out of their apartments. They're having these fires, but they're safer when the fires happen. That's why this million dollars is so critical. It is going to make sure that even more New Yorkers understand not only how dangerous these can be, but also that there is something they can do about it right now, even as we are working on all these other pieces. This million dollars is going to be critical.

Also very appreciative to the deliveristas who helped us craft some of this messaging specifically to the delivery workers, because this is not meant… E-bikes are not the enemy, as the mayor said. We also don't want our enforcement efforts to fall on the delivery workers who are simply responding to a New Yorker's demand. We do love to have everything delivered. I'm sure everybody here has had something delivered in the last week. We can do something to make them safer. That's to make sure, one, that New Yorkers are educated, that our delivery workers are educated, that we make sure these bad bikes are not coming into our country.

Finally, that we make sure that there's a place that they can charge them outdoors. One of the things that's hardest to say to New Yorkers is, please charge this outside. How many of us have outdoor space to do that? This accelerator will make sure that we're working with the private sector, the ones who've really caused this boom in these deliveries, to make it a safer thing to do so that when I say, please charge this outside, that's actually possible for our users.

One thing I want to point out, we talk a lot about how this is a green energy and it's so critical, and it is. Green energy carries as much power as some of our dirty forms of energy. It is no different that we should have regulation, that we should have safe ways of delivering this energy to the workers. You don't keep propane and gasoline in your bedroom, and you shouldn't keep an e-bike in your bedroom either. As you've seen from the videos, when these fail, because they have so much power in them, they do an incredible amount of damage. These regulations are as important as they were for the types of fuel and energies we were using in the past.

I truly believe today is such a critical point. I've talked a lot about what we needed to do in government, and we've done that. I've talked about what we can do with the private sector, and they have risen to the occasion and are here to partner with us to do this. I've talked about how the future is a way that we can use these safely. That is certainly going to happen with a Safe Charging Accelerator.

We are tremendously grateful for all the support we've gotten. We think between this education campaign and getting these outside, we can begin to look for a future where our members can feel safer that they're not going into a fire, where one of these devices could explode in front of them, trapping them in an apartment, that New Yorkers are safer, that can be confident that they have a safe place to put a bike, and they're no longer wondering or making a choice between a living and their lives. We are confident that we are going to get to a place soon where the number of deaths are zero. Thank you so much to everybody up here for making this possible. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: It really is a combined effort. As the commissioner mentioned, it's the public sector, but it's also the private sector and our City Council and elected officials. On that point, it's especially important because safety is number one. We're talking about e-bike fires and safety, but there's another aspect of safety that we're working closely with the Council on, and that is safe delivering. Ensuring that the dispatches are within safe time periods. We're not incentivizing speed. We're making sure that delivery workers have the same work protocols that so many other industries have. It is now becoming one of the most dangerous industries up there with construction, and we need to turn the tide on that.

Just like we have regulation around propane, because the energy needs to be regulated, we also need to make sure that there's company-level regulation about how workers do deliveries and ensure they have enough time and enough latitude to do them safely. Really thank the Council. As the mayor mentioned, we're working on an Office of Sustainable Deliveries, and I want to thank the council for their partnership in getting that done and look forward to more movement on that. With that, Councilmember Powers, who's been a real champion for ensuring that delivery workers have the right equipment they need to do their job safely and go home to their loved ones.

City Councilmember Keith Powers: Thank you. Nice to see everyone today. I am City Councilmember Keith Powers, representing the East Side of Manhattan. As you've heard, and I want to repeat what the mayor said earlier, we are making substantial progress to limit the fires and deaths here in this city, but this is still not a time to retreat. It's a time to double down on our efforts to make sure that New Yorkers are safe.

It is a quintessential public safety issue. I hear from so many of my constituents about those fears and concerns about living in a building… Or I'll wait for this guy to go. We passed a noise camera bill too, by the way, but it's to make sure that they feel safe when they go home and not knowing if their neighbors are charging a dangerous battery in their building. As we've always said, no one wants to be using a battery that isn't safe, of course, and no one wants a battery that can cause fire to be anywhere close to them. That's why we have been passing laws throughout this crisis to address this public safety issue, including laws to require public awareness campaigns on the dangers posed by these batteries. Of course, this, what we're here today for, which is the law I introduced to create the first of its kind municipal battery swap program that we're discussing here today.

As we were watching this crisis unfold in this city, I'm going to give credit to my staff because they were looking all over at what other cities were doing, and they noticed that in other cities, not on this specific issue, but there were these types of versions in other areas where you could swap in or swap out dangerous things. We talked about, well, what if we could do that here? What if we could work with our delivery workers and work with our city agencies, not to just punish and not just to, and we have to do all this, prevent, but also to give an opportunity for people who are trying to make a hard, doing hard work here in this city, give them the opportunity to use safe equipment. Of course, we went to talk to our fire commissioner, we had to talk to deputy mayor and the Mayor's Office, and all together crafted a program that we think will be a really successful program, and hopefully we can expand on in the future, but also set the pace for other cities who might be facing similar crises to see what New York City is doing as they often do.

We are really grateful today to be announcing new steps in that process. We have passed other laws in the city as well, banning uncertified sale, the sale of uncertified batteries here, but we already know that there's thousands of them that are all across the city. I think this program will say, now, if you have one and it's dangerous, and it's potentially going to put your neighbors and your family and yourself in danger, come and trade it in and make both yourself and make everyone around you much safer. We know we still have a lot of work to do, but I am really grateful that we have this partnership and this collaboration between the Mayor's Office, the Council, the deliveristas, and the Fire Department, everyone, that is important to solve this issue. I do really think as we continue to roll these out, we are going to continue to see substantial progress.

I just want to end on one note, which is my work on this was so informed by our commissioner, Laura Kavanagh. I just want to give her a big thank you for her service to our city, her leadership. You can clap, yes, of course. Her leadership, but whenever I had a question, we were sending testimony to the Congress and to the federal government, looking for other ways that the Council could be supportive. It was her leadership, her guidance that helped us get to this point today. Just deeply grateful. Thank you for everything you've done. Of course, Mr. Mayor, I want to say thank you for your leadership on this issue and your continued partnership with us to make sure that we keep New Yorkers safe.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Okay, and now we're going to hear from Jenifer Rajkumar, who has been a real supporter of so many of our public safety initiatives here in the city. Thank you.

State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar: Good afternoon to everybody. The growing number of lithium-ion battery fires in our city has been truly alarming. I'm proud to be a leading voice in our state capital for common sense regulations of e-bikes, where I have authored a legislative package, including Priscilla's Law in honor of Priscilla Loke, who lost her life tragically last year in an e-bike collision.

The e-vehicle industry has boomed in recent years, but government regulation simply has not kept up with this thriving industry. Today I am proud to stand with Mayor Adams, Commissioner Kavanagh, and the whole team to take decisive action. The number of fires has risen alarmingly in the past few years. In 2019, there were 30 battery fires, but last year there were 238, taking, as the mayor said, 18 lives. 59 percent of these fires occurred while batteries were not even charging. These bikes are stored in many residential buildings, so when they explode, all of our lives are in danger. The FDNY has performed remarkable rope rescues to save people in buildings trapped by these dangerous fires. The bravery and dedication of the FDNY to protecting our city is truly commendable, and I would like to thank all of our brave firefighters.

In response to this growing threat, we have taken significant legislative action in Albany to enhance e-bike battery safety. The legislation that my colleagues and I have passed this year includes stricter safety standards for battery manufacturing, improved guidelines for charging and storing, increased penalties for the sale of non-compliant batteries, and most importantly, banning the sale of uncertified batteries. These measures are designed to, one, protect our citizens, and two, ensure that the use of e-bikes remain a safe and viable option for transportation.

Mayor Adams today is taking the bold step to address the issue with DOT cutting the bureaucratic red tape and expediting the process so that property owners can install outdoor e-battery charging stations quickly. I love this type of government efficiency, making our government work faster and better. The city is also making investments today, as has been said, a $2 million historic first-in-the-nation trade-in program for unsafe e-bikes, mobility devices, and batteries, and a $1 million investment in the FDNY for education campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of battery fires and to promote safe practices.

I'd like to say thank you, Mayor Adams. Thank you to our path-breaking fire commissioner for everything she's done, Laura Kavanagh. Through our city and state partnership, we will end the deadly scourge of battery fires once and for all.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: There's one woman who has been fighting for a very long time on every front to protect our delivery workers, and I'm sure many of you already know her, Ligia of the Worker's Justice Project. Thank you.

Ligia Guallpa, Executive Director, Worker's Justice Project: Thank you. Good afternoon. This is Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of the Worker's Justice Project, the organization that has been organizing with Los Deliveristas Unidos. First of all, I want to say thank you so much to our mayor and the different agencies, including our City Council, for doing a couple things. One is guaranteeing that this job, it's not only dignified, but it's safe for 60,000 delivery workers that do this work to keep every New Yorker safe and fed, especially during climate change crisis that our city has been experiencing in the past year.

When we started organizing in 2020 as Los Deliveristas Unidos, our mission and our vision has always been about transforming app delivery work into a job that is dignified, that is safe for every worker that does one of the most essential jobs in our city. We have done that, and we're doing that. We could have not made possible that without, first of all, our City Council, who actually passed a package of legislation to deliver labor protections for the first time in history for delivery drivers in this country. We're proud to be enforcing with our agency, with the agency, which is the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, that is making sure delivery drivers know their rights and are protected.

The second is about making sure that delivery work becomes safe. I'm proud to say that this city, that our mayor, is not only delivering a comprehensive approach to make sure that happens, but it's leading the way across the country about making sure delivery drivers not only has labor rights, but have the right infrastructure that they need to make this job safer. How? By delivering charging stations, especially in a time that is critically needed as our city depends on delivery drivers to move goods across the city.

Second, by making sure the agency reaches and engages workers through a comprehensive educational approach. We're proud to do that with FDNY and the commissioner who has not only met, but also is making sure that the approach to educate workers is understanding, is speaking the language of delivery drivers and understanding their needs.

The third agency that we're proud to be partnering is DOT, who's not only leading the way on delivering charging stations that meet the needs of delivery drivers, but now we're super excited to see the agency lead the way on delivering a swap program, the first e-battery swap program in the nation that would allow drivers and delivery drivers to transition to safe e-batteries.

This is just the beginning of something new and historic. We're proud to stand with our mayor, the agencies of FDNY, DOT, DCWP, and also City Council to make sure that we continue to install and create more charging stations across the city. We appreciate the FDNY commitment to educate and create awareness. We're proud to partner with DOT and FDNY to make sure that every delivery driver knows how to transition to e-battery, e-bike battery safely. We look forward to continuing partnering in making sure that the implementation happens by continuously engaging delivery drivers and making sure that we're making sure that every delivery driver can access e-battery, UL certified battery safely and cheaper and free, as our mayor said, and making sure that we continue to make this job safer and dignified for 60,000 delivery drivers who depend on this job to put food on the table for their families and to continue to make the city a great city. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Okay, and we are now going to hear from our DOT commissioner, Ydanis Rodriguez, who together with his team is making sure that these charging stations are not just hosted by the city, but have the opportunity for private businesses and private companies to pair and get them on the streets to places where delivery workers need them.

Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, Department of Transportation: First of all, thank you to Ya-Ting, the team at the DOT, Will and [Irene]. They are the ones, again, that have been working so hard for so many months, as the mayor, having talked to all of us about interagency, the way how we've been working in the city. Thank you to Deputy Mayor Joshi, it's a pleasure to be here and to be part of this announcement when New York City DOT will play a key role.

Delivery workers are essential workers and as it has been said before, they are a vital part of our economy. E-bikes make their job easier and they're also becoming incredibly popular among average New Yorkers. This is exciting. E-bikes help New Yorkers get around the city and they're much safer and more efficient than large vehicles. One thing is clear, New Yorkers need safe bikes, safe chargers and they also deserve safe batteries. Again, safe bikes, safe batteries, safe charges, that's what New Yorkers are demanding right now and that's what the mayor has been instructing all of us to get it done. Our e-bike trade in program will help get dangerous bikes off our streets and public charging will get risky batteries out of our apartment buildings. I'd like to thank Mayor Eric Adams, Commissioner Kavanaugh for the leadership and the crucial role they have played in making New York City the role model in this nation.

Hoy estamos aquí con el liderazgo del alcalde Eric Adams asegurándonos de que todas las agencias estamos trabajando para darle a esta ciudad lo que es el mejor programa de poder cargar las baterías de esto que estamos aquí viviendo hoy. Por primera vez el programa también le dará a cientos de deliveristas, un e-bike con su batería en el programa que se va a hacer. Lo otro es que también comenzamos el programa de Revocable [Consent] para que lo que nosotros miramos en cualquier lugar también esté en la ciudad completa. Gracias.

Translation: Today we are here with the leadership of Mayor Eric Adams making sure that all agencies are working to give this city what is the best program to be able to charge the batteries on what we are experiencing here today. For the first time the program will also give hundreds of deliveristas an e-bike with its battery in the program that is going to be done. The other thing is that we also started the Revocable [Consent] program so that what we see in other places, can also be seen in the entire city. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: We also have another important figure in this discussion, our Senator Kavanagh, who is available, hopefully, for a few remarks.

State Senator Brian Kavanagh: We figured we needed a second Kavanagh for this event. I'll be very brief, I wasn't really expecting to speak, but I'm very proud to be here, to be working with a city that really is working with all of us at all levels of government to come up with really comprehensive, innovative solutions to a difficult problem that is critical that we solve. We cannot look back and step away from the growing reliance on electric-powered transportation at all levels. It is essential for achieving our goals on climate and pollution in the city, and yet we also can't do that at the expense of these tragic fires. Some of the fires that were very prominent tragedies did occur in my district, we lost lives.

It's great that we are here together, and the mayor and the fire commissioner, my great friend Laura Kavanagh, and Councilman Powers, and everybody are working on comprehensive solutions at all levels. Getting the federal government to act has been no mean feat, but New York really played a role in instigating that. As my colleague Assemblymember Rajkumar noted, the state and the governor have stepped up with some very important legislation. We're continuing to work on that.

We'll be looking next year, we made some progress on this, but really ultimately we need to make sure the producers of all these batteries are directly responsible for the comprehensive program that will permit the batteries to be taken back and properly recycled, properly reused, and properly disposed of when necessary, so that you don't have these ad hoc operations in our cities doing damage. Again, it's a great pleasure to be here, and thank you Mr. Mayor for your leadership.

Question: Hi. I wanted to ask, is this going to require the public charging on the sidewalks, allowing the businesses to do this. Is that going to require a change to the zoning code, and also has Con Ed said that they have the requisite power capacity to do something like this? Because I assume it's going to take a lot of electricity to power this.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: I'm going to let Will Carry, I think from DOT, answer that. The short answer is no, not a change to the zoning code. This is very similar to many other things that businesses plug in today. We're not talking about a… Oh, there we go.

Commissioner Rodriguez: We don't need that. We only need revocable concerns. That's what we are announcing today. Revocable concern is like, in order for a property owner or a tenant to build in the sidewalk or on the sidewalk, we need to go through a revocable concern that the city will allow that to happen. This is the easy way to do it, and this is what we are announcing today, that we are starting a process for revocable concern. We are announcing the initiative to provide around 400 deliveristas to be able to have the opportunity to change the used e-bike for a new one with a safe charger.

Question: One other question. What's the status on that…Yes, the Con Ed question. Does Con Ed have the capacity to do something like this?

Deputy Mayor Joshi: These are like case by case, but generally these are very similar to other things that businesses would plug in. It's no seismic difference than the Con Ed.

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: Can I just add one thing to that? We were also given some extra resources, some staffing resources by the Mayor's Office in order to help businesses do just that. That's part of the acceleration is experts from the Fire Department can go talk to businesses about exactly what is required, whether it's the UL certification, the structure of the device or the electricity needed. Those staff are dedicated just to doing this to make sure business owners know if they can do it and if they can do it, how to get up faster.

Question: One other if possible. What's the status of that new agency that you proposed? I think it was this year on the Office of Sustainable Delivery.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Sure. Currently the city does not have the legal authority to license companies that dispatch delivery workers well beyond restaurants, including cargo bikes and all the other on demand products that you see traveling in carts or on bikes or on mopeds in many of our bike lanes. The Office of Sustainable Delivery will be an office that will be an outgrowth of getting that jurisdictional ability to license those companies. We're hard at work with City Council on drafting what that proposed bill would look like. We're hopeful that in the fall we'll be able to have a hearing.

Once the city has the authority to license the companies, it's a game changer in terms of enforcing safety requirements. Today, if you have a safety requirement, but nothing at stake, if it's violated, you have a hard time getting compliance. If you have a actual license at stake, as we see in agencies like TLC, then you have a lot more compliance from the large companies that are dispatching tens of thousands of workers. We're hard at work with City Council. We're glad to partner with them on yet another important safety initiative for delivery workers and for the public.

Question: Hi. You mentioned working with app companies to help stop incentivizing speed and keeping the roads safer. How will you be doing that?

Deputy Mayor Joshi: It's what I was just referring to. The ability to license those companies, once the city has that authority, then there can be requirements that go along with that licensure. The devil's in the details. The proposed bill will come forward. For example, if you're incentivizing safety rather than speed, you're ensuring that every worker has enough time to safely deliver everything without trying to pit workers against each other to deliver quickly in order to get more jobs.

Question: I just have one more question. Mr. Mayor, do you support Assemblymember Rajkumar's bill that would require e-bikes to be licensed?

Mayor Adams: We have looked at a couple of bills in legislation. Right now we have just a real wild west sort of atmosphere. We're looking over that legislation, as well as others that are coming out of Albany. She mentioned several of them. See how we can coordinate with our deliveristas. We don't want to be overburdensome. At the same time, we want to make sure we can properly coordinate who's on our roadways.

Question: A couple of quick questions. Confirming that the commissioner said about 400 batteries/bikes would be traded in?

Deputy Mayor Joshi: On that one, we're still working out the exact numbers. It all depends on the RFP process and how much we're able to stretch the dollar in order to get the greatest benefit to the greatest number of workers.

Question: What's the incentive for a business to have one of these cabinets outside? Why would they want to do that? What would be the reason for that?

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Often there's a small charge that it goes along with using these. There is that aspect of it. Also, many of these are the same businesses that are working regularly with deliveristas. It really helps to create that organic environment to support the workers that they're using day in and day out.

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: Sorry, can I just add one thing, too? Right now they are making money. It's just illegally. When you heard the mayor talk about seeing hundreds of these in a basement, they're not doing that out of the goodness of their heart. They're charging but in an unregulated and extremely unsafe environment. The idea is to be able to come together with the private sector where they can still charge a small fee in a safe way so that we're not looking at businesses that are effectively death traps.

Question: Yes, hi. Two quick questions. Someone mentioned earlier that there were 18 deaths in 2023 from e-bike fires. There was one death this year so far. I think that's notable. It's also notable that this year so far is one of the deadliest for New York City people who use the streets. More than 100 people were killed in the first six months of 2024. Historic deaths. Are you concerned about that, Mr. Mayor? What are you doing to address that immediately?

Then, second question, the messaging from the city seems to me that e-bikes are dangerous. I've heard from folks whose management companies are just banning them outright. How do you thread the needle in the messaging where you want to encourage e-bike use but not ban them completely so that they're good bikes to be utilized by folks?

Mayor Adams: First, let's talk about last year under DOT's leadership was one of the safest years for pedestrians because of some of the things we've done, redesigning sidewalks, our campaign around Vision Zero and what the commissioner has done. It is clear when you do an analysis of there are far too many reckless drivers, there are far too many speeders, and there is properly using our streets.

I really believe street safety is something that not only those who are using our streets for driving on e-bikes, on vehicles, but also how do we use our streets and what do we cross? Do we cross in the middle of the street? Do we cross in the crosswalk? All of us have to be reeducated to the large number of vehicles on the street that consist of our e-hails, large number of delivery workers, large number of people using these e-mobility for just transportation. We have a different set of usage of our streets right now, and that's why it must be a holistic approach that we all must be engaged in.

I looked at the numbers and sat down with DOT. Yes, we put a lot of attention on the vehicles, but I was really surprised to see how many accidents we're having because people are crossing in the middle of the street and not at the crosswalk. People are walking against the light. We need a holistic approach to safer streets, and we are focusing on doing that because one life lost is one life too many, and that's why we want to be focused on doing that. Now, your second question?

Question: My second question is just I heard from folks whose management companies are just saying, all right, no e-bikes. These batteries are too dangerous, when in fact we know that that's not the case for many e-bikes, it's that their batteries aren't going to explode. How do you message to the real estate community or management companies that, hey, these are actually okay when they are used properly. Don't abandon them entirely from your building.

Mayor Adams: We believe that, again, these e-mobilities vehicles and bikes, they're not the enemy. Proper use is what we must do. There's a real market for these bootleg batteries that we want to zero in on. That is our problem. That's the enemy. A properly-used battery, a properly-charged battery, has the right functionality, and that is what we want to do in the power of education, the power of replacement, the power of public outside charging. These are all the things. What the commissioner and I have witnessed is that these illegal charging apparatus, people are paying people to charge within unsafe environments. That's what we're going after. We're not going after getting bikes off the road. We're going after not having bikes on the road look like these.

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: We've spoken to small and large landlords and to REBNY. They are all looking very much forward to this accelerator. They want these outdoor charging stations so they can tell their residents there's a safe way to have your bike here. They're ready and excited about this.

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