The City Council passed a slate of bills Thursday cracking down on lithium-ion batteries used in many electric bikes and scooters, including measures that have spurred concerns that food delivery workers may feel the brunt of enforcement.
The Council bills belong to a broader legislative package aimed at clamping down on the risks associated with the batteries, which have caused a growing number of fires, injuries and deaths citywide, according to the fire department.
A bill sponsored by Councilmember Oswald Feliz would bar e-bikes lacking certified electrical systems from being leased or sold in the city. Another bill from Councilmember Gale Brewer would similarly ban the assembly or reconditioning of cells from secondhand batteries or their sale.
“These bills are an initial step to increase public education and reduce the growing commercial circulation of uncertified batteries that pose the greatest danger,” said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams before the vote on Thursday.
“Our valued delivery workers are not the target of these restrictions,” Adams continued. “Rather it is commercial sellers who profit from distributing those devices that lack safety certification.”
Still, delivery workers have concerns about how the restrictions would be rolled out. While advocates agree that worker safety is a priority, they say the bills alone won’t tackle the root of the problem.
“If deliveristas and other low-income communities would have access to public charging stations and how to charge and park their bikes safely, families and deliveristas wouldn’t have to take the risk to do this at their homes,” Ligia Guallpa, executive director of Workers Justice Project, said before Thursday’s vote.
Guallpa said the organizing group, which houses Los Deliveristas Unidos, has spoken with the bill sponsors and Speaker Adams about their concerns. In remarks before the Council vote, Adams pledged to continue to work with deliveristas on the issue.
“Many of the delivery…
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