Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
For the second time this summer, the NYPD and the Department of Sanitation conducted an e-bike sweep targeting delivery workers, also known as deliveristas. However, unlike the operation on July 30, which focused on the NE corridor at 11th Street, the Aug. 28 enforcement expanded to First Avenue, where officers seized two dozen bikes.
Ahead of the sweep, an NYPD officer on the scene told me: “Whatever is not in the [bike] corral will be taken, whatever is on the fence will be taken.”
According to police sources, the operation was initiated following a recent New York Post article, which described 11th Street as “an eyesore with 125 e-bikes clogging the street” and “a hideous dumping ground for e-bikes,” prompting the attention of City Hall. From there, City Hall pressured 1 Police Plaza to take immediate action…