E-Bike Charging And Storage Station Will Open On UWS: What To Know

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An outdoor electric bike and scooter charging and storage station is coming to the Upper West Side as part of a pilot program from the city.

Con Edison and the New York City Housing Authority are teaming up to place the stations at four developments across the city, including in front of the DeHostos Houses on West 93rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam.

The project is part of a new pilot program called "Charge Safe, Ride Safe: New York City's Electric Micromobility Action Plan" that Mayor Eric Adams announced on March 20.

The goal of the project is to test whether the use of e-bikes and e-scooters would increase if New Yorkers had "suitable charging and storage."

"Increasing the use of these devices would reduce reliance on fossil fuel-powered transportation, meaning cleaner air and safer streets," reads a news release from Con Edison.

NYCHA Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt said that the stations would support the "growth of this sustainable mode of transportation."

“The safety of NYCHA residents is our chief priority and central to the work we do every day,” Bova-Hiatt said in a news release. “We are pleased to partner with Con Edison on this pilot program, which will provide NYCHA residents with a safe outdoor charging and storage alternative, while supporting the growth of this sustainable mode of transportation."

The three other pilot stations will go in Queens and Brooklyn.

The incoming pilot program to the Upper West Side means that the neighborhood will get an e-bike station after all.

At the beginning of March, Upper West Side Community Board 7 voted against the proposed location of a rest stop for delivery workers within Verdi Square next to the 72nd Street train station.

The most common concerns voiced by community members had to do with the rest stop's location within an already bustling area, and the possibility of fires from the e-bike's lithium batteries.

In terms of the charging and storage station headed to West 93rd Street, the specifics of where it will located exactly on the street and who the vendor will be are still getting worked out.

There is no expected opening date as of now.