Mayor Adams, reacting Wednesday to a deadly spate of city e-bike fires this year, promised a crackdown on sketchy vendors and a faster response to New Yorkers’ complaints about their businesses.
Adams, speaking three blocks from the Chinatown building where four people perished in a Tuesday e-bike blaze, said 311 calls about “questionable activity” at bike repair shops will now be answered within 12 hours by the FDNY.
“E-bikes are an important part of our transportation network and essential to many small businesses,” the mayor said at a news conference. “But there will be zero tolerance for activity that puts New Yorkers at risk.”
The current window for the FDNY response stands at 72 hours. City officials cited a huge uptick this year in fires linked to e-bikes, with 13 people killed in 108 incidents to date.
The mayor’s announcement came one day after a raging e-bike blaze killed four Chinatown residents and left two more critically injured, with authorities blaming the fire on a repair shop previously cited for unsafe conditions.
The mayor urged New Yorkers to remain alert to warning signs like the sale of refurbished batteries, “mazes of extension cords” and lack of proper licenses.
A 71-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman were among the dead at the six-story Chinatown apartment building where the e-bike business operated on the ground floor.
Police identified the male victim’s wife as 65-year-old Mei Kung, who remained in critical condition Wednesday after the fire at HQ E-Bike Repair.
“I cannot stress how dangerous these fires are because of how quickly they spread,” said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks. “They are avoidable and that’s what makes this more of a tragedy.”
The Chinatown blaze began around 12:15 a.m., with fire and smoke quickly billowing through the building after starting inside the street-level business.
Adams thanked FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh for bringing the e-bike battery problem to his attention. The two city officials walked together to the fire scene after the news conference.
“The loss of four lives is something that should impact us all,” said the mayor. “Let’s be proactive to prevent this incident from recurring.
Authorities said the Chinatown business was twice cited by the city since 2021, with a failed inspection last year leading to a $1,600 fine. Fire marshals said the e-bike business violations included charging batteries stacked next to each other and plugged into extension cords.
The FDNY said those violations could have easily cause a fire.
“It’s a shame that innocent lives got taken for some shoddy guy,” said Anthony Dellatacoma, 36, a neighborhood homeless man who witnessed the deadly blaze. “It’s overcrowded with bikes. He does work on the bikes outside.”
A smoldering pile of charred e-bikes were piled outside the store hours after the inferno was extinguished.
“Tragic, scary … smoke, flames, it was crazy,” said a man who lives on the block near the business. “I heard the screams of kids. Worst thing I’ve ever seen. People were evacuating — everyone, old folks.”