A pile of charred e-bikes pulled from the wreckage of HQ E-Bike Repair in Chinatown on June 20.
Photo by Dean Moses
Members of New York’s congressional delegation are seeking answers from federal regulators on e-bike safety standards and enforcement following a deadly fire at a Chinatown bike shop last week that left four people dead.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) penned a letter to the commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Thursday seeking an update from the agency on its outreach to e-bike manufacturers. The agency is calling on the firms to only manufacture and sell devices with batteries independently certified as safe.
The agency sent a letter to the manufacturers in December, but has not provided an update on corporate compliance or enforcement plans.
“We urge the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), as the federal regulating body for e-vehicle safety, to take swift action to hold manufacturers accountable if they do not meet minimum battery safety standards,” reads Goldman’s letter, which was signed by eight members of New York’s delegation on Capitol Hill.
Goldman’s letter was signed by House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Reps. Nydia Velázquez, Ritchie Torres, Jerry Nadler, Grace Meng, Gregory Meeks, and Adriano Espaillat.
The CPSC declined to comment.
The lithium-ion batteries powering e-bikes, which are quickly becoming part of the fabric of New York’s streetscape, are highly volatile and, if stored improperly, can cause fires that quickly spread out of control and are very difficult to extinguish. The fire at HQ E-Bike Repair in Chinatown last week not only destroyed the store but displaced many residents who live in apartments above the store. The store had a long rap sheet of 311 violations, and firefighters pulled a massive throng of charred e-bikes out of the store.
Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams announced that 311 calls of “questionable activity” at bike repair shops would…
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