NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 46

FULL THROTTLE
Big Apple E-Ban?
A proposed prohibition of e-bikes and e-scooters from public housing in New York
City would affect over half a million people. The idea has resulted in a sharp backlash.
for a couple of years now.
" Our hazardous materials
unit has to respond
to every single one of
these incidents, " he said.
" There's a budget impact
there. " In 2021, a week before
Christmas, a man
died and three other people
were seriously injured
when a fire broke out because
of e-bikes being
charged in an East Village
apartment building.
The property was owned
by the city's housing
authority.
Those critical of the
proposed NYCHA rule
change say it unfairly targets
poorer New Yorkers.
A report published earlier
this year by Cornell University's
School of Industrial
and Labor Relations
and the advocacy group
Los Deliveristas Unidos
found that the majority
of food delivery workers
in New York make below
minimum wage, even
with tips, and many of
these workers rely on perT
o
address the fire risk posed by personal
e-bikes and e-scooters, the
New York City Housing Authority, or
NYCHA, is considering a new rule that
has generated significant opposition,
prompting many observers to predict it
won't be followed even if it is eventually
passed.
In June, NYCHA confirmed with NFPA
Journal that it was considering a new
rule that would prohibit anyone living in
public housing from bringing even a single
e-bike or e-scooter into their homes,
including the common areas of buildings.
It would be one of the strictest micromobility
device bans in the world and
would affect more than half a million
New Yorkers. (Officially, about 340,000
New Yorkers live in public housing. In reality,
experts believe the figure is closer
to 600,000.)
Previously, such bans have only been
implemented for transportation infrastructure
or government buildings, not
46 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2022
in residences. In London, for instance,
government officials banned e-scooters
from the city's buses and subway system
in December 2021, citing fire safety concerns.
Two months later, both e-bikes and
e-scooters were banned from the Palace
of Westminster, where Parliament meets.
The New York City ban would follow
other recent changes made in the city in
the name of e-bike and e-scooter safety.
As of April, the New York City Fire Code
has included limitations on storing or
charging more than five electric micromobility
devices in one area. Additionally,
the New York City Fire Department
(FDNY) has banned e-bikes and e-scooters
from all of its office buildings, with
the exception of devices used by disabled
people.
The proposed NYCHA ban is meant to
stem the kinds of dangerous, costly incidents
that Joe Jardin, chief of fire prevention
at FDNY, said his department has
been responding to on a weekly basis
sonal e-bikes or e-scooters to carry out
their jobs.
" I'm not sure why e-bikes would pose
more of a safety hazard in public housing
than they would in private housing, " said
Howard Yaruss, co-chairman of the CB7
Transportation Committee in Manhattan,
who has been a vocal proponent of
e-bikes. " E-bikes are an important alternative
mode of transportation that is particularly
affordable when compared to
cars. Therefore, I think it would be particularly
odd to ban e-bikes solely for people
with limited incomes. "
'I WON'T LET THEM TAKE MY BIKE'
The challenges of enforcing such a ban
aren't lost on stakeholders, either. " We're
talking about a stricter rule than even
what the fire code now calls for, and I envision
enforcement challenges to that, "
said Paul Rogers, a former FDNY lieutenant
who now runs the Energy Storage
Response Group (ESRG), a group
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2022

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