Call 311 for e-bike battery issues, Mayor Eric Adams urges NYC, but fails to tell the service
Mayor Adams unveiled his newest plan to prevent lithium-ion battery fires as the death toll from e-bike blazes has already hit 13 this year — but its key initiative of having New Yorkers report problems to 311 got off to a rocky start, The Post has learned.
“Effective immediately, 311 calls regarding questionable activity at bike repair shops or any other locations with batteries [that] are being charged will get a response from the local fire station within 12 hours,” Mayor Adams said at a Lower Manhattan press conference Wednesday afternoon, a day after four people were killed in an inferno that ripped through a Chinatown e-bike repair store. It was the 108th fire caused by e-bike batteries this year.
But when The Post tried to report a problem to 311, both online and on the phone, there were no options for lithium-ion battery issues. Instead, an email address was given to contact fire prevention at the FDNY.
The Post did get an automated acknowledgment to its email to the department — but by not using the 311 system, it was impossible to track the request and see how quickly fire officials were responding. Hizzoner said the city hopes to reduce the response time for such requests from 72 hours to 12.
The mayor also rattled off a series of “questionable activities” New Yorkers should look for.
Those include seeing a large number of batteries or extension cords being used, batteries that appear refurbished, and businesses that don’t appear to be properly licensed.
“We’re asking the public to play a role,” Adams said, adding, “Let’s not wait until this is going to victimize your family.”
A few hours after the mayor’s announcement, an FDNY spokesperson said the 311 call system was up and running.
“New Yorkers have been encouraged to call 311 to report concerns about lithium-ion batteries,” the FDNY spokesperson said. “That call system is now active, and 311 operators are ready to field your calls and make sure the appropriate fire companies are alerted about the need for inspections.”
The rocky rollout comes as city lawmakers struggle to balance the regulatory and punitive response to the recent surge of e-bikes, which are primarily used by low-income workers.
“Now we’re dealing with these, the low-wage employees that are doing the right thing. The goal is to correct an action,” Adams said when asked why the city hasn’t shut more locations down, such as the shop at the center of Tuesday’s deadly blaze.
The HQ E-Bike Repair at 80 Madison St. had been previously cited for battery charging violations earlier this year.
“Habitual abusers, we will shut down,” the mayor said, “But we’re not going to create a knee-jerk reaction that says every place that sells batteries we’re going to shut down — because then who’s going to supply those who are legally using those batteries and can’t carry out their job.”
Lithium-ion batteries are now the leading cause of fatal fires in the Big Apple.
Last month, another fire in Upper Manhattan claimed the lives of four.
Bronx Democratic Councilman Oswald Feliz, one of the city lawmakers who has led the charge on e-bike battery safety, told The Post that enforcement was key.
“We need heavy enforcement of these rules and education on the matter … but also random inspections of specific businesses to make sure they are not selling the batteries they cannot lawfully sell,” he said.
