After a spate of deadly e-bike battery fires, safe charging stations are coming to New York City public housing projects, electeds announced Sunday.
The city is tapping $25 million in federal funds to set up 173 e-bike charging stations at 53 NYCHA sites, they said.
Saying “technology is outpacing federal safety action in many ways,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised the new stations will “save lives and make these devices so much safer.”
The project comes amid an alarming uptick in fires started by lithium-ion batteries.
As of last week, 13 New Yorkers had been killed and an additional 71 injured in such blazes so far this year. Six deaths were blamed on e-bike battery fires in all of last year.
In the latest tragedy, four people were killed and two others injured when an inferno erupted at an e-bike repair shop last week in Chinatown.
The $25 million for the new stations comes from the U.S. Transportation Department’s “RAISE” grant program, officials said.
“Providing safe storage and accessible charging infrastructure for micromobility transportation outside of New Yorkers’ homes, especially the homes of low-income NYCHA residents, will help save lives and reduce carbon emissions in New York City,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said in a Sunday statement.
Earlier this year, Mayor Adams announced a range of efforts to reduce fires caused by e-bike batteries, from new storage and charging sites to an informational campaign by the FDNY.
Last week, he said the Fire Department would begin responding to 311 complaints about iffy e-bike situations.
“Working hand in hand with our federal partners, our administration is taking action,” Adams said Sunday.
The NYCHA charging stations will be set up starting around the end of the year, according to Schumer’s office.
Days after a fire at the HQ E-Bike Repair in Chinatown killed four, a blaze erupted as workers were cleaning the very same location, though there were no injuries in…
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