Fed-up East Villagers demanded Thursday that the Big Apple finally terminate a crowded e-bike parking lot at East 11th Street and First Avenue after numerous failed attempts by the city to clear up the clogged corner.
asserted
Apple → feed → corner
Earlier in the day, the NYPD and Sanitation officers made a halfhearted attempt to clear the nearly 150 abandoned and illegally parked bikes that have blighted the area — but only wound up moving about 11 of them, leaving residents frustrated with the glacial pace of change.
asserted
that → make → change
“Every day I hear from tenants about blocked sidewalks, food waste, rats, and concerns about safety.
asserted
I → hear → safety
They affect whether people can comfortably enter their homes, reach a business, or simply walk down the street,” raged Christine Renzi, a local business owner and founder of the East Village Beautification Project.
asserted
Renzi → affect → Project
“Small businesses keep closing, residents’ quality of life keeps dropping, and property values keep plummeting.”
asserted
values → close → life
Renzi founded the coalition last month after the city repeatedly failed at cleaning up the e-bike eyesore since it erupted in 2024.
asserted
it → found → 2024
Renzi witnessed as many as 400 bikes “blocking sidewalks and causing mayhem” at any given time, she said — with deliveristas treating the corner as a waiting room between Uber Eats and Seamless orders.
asserted
deliveristas → witness → Eats
The hordes of lingering men have made Isabela Padule fearful of walking around her own neighborhood with her baby, saying she no longer feels safe.
“This block used to be much safer.
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block → linger → baby
, I feel scared and when I come home at night, I [don’t] feel comfortable walking past hundreds of men outside my doorstep,” Padule, 30, an office manager, said.
asserted
Padule → feel → doorstep
“I want to walk out of my home with my baby and feel safe and comfortable [within] my own neighborhood.”
But advocates argue that the deliveristas have been forced into the East Village because their bikes have been stolen when they’ve parked in other neighborhoods, like Union Square.
asserted
they → want → Square
“The guys are parking there for the safety of their bikes.
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guys → park → bikes
They don’t have anywhere to park,” said Danny of Cafe Wal, a volunteer-run restaurant that offers free training.
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that → have → training
“We want to work with the community to help solve the problem.”
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We → want → problem
Some locals, however, say the problem won’t be solved until the streets are unclogged.
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streets → say → ?
Mike Perez says he was forced to close his store on the block because the hordes of deliveristas “hanging out” at the e-bike pile were deterring pedestrian customers.
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hordes → say → customers
“Being a small business, you didn’t have a budget for promoting … so we kind of depended on pedestrian traffic, as well as the window display.
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we → have → traffic
These bikes and these people hanging out in front of the shop, it kind of took that away,” said Perez, who is now an MTA bus driver.
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who → hang → that
Similarly, Robert Zerilli says business at Veniero Pasticceria & Caffe has taken a hit over the past two years.
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Caffe → say → years
“Every closed storefront means more than one business disappearing.
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business → close → ?
It means the end of jobs, the end of someone’s small business dream, and one less reason for people to visit this block,” he said.
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he → mean → block
The overcrowding has also caused a surge in litter — igniting a plague of rats.
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overcrowding → cause → rats
Super Hector Duran, who has worked on the block for 27 years, has been filling burrow holes with concrete in an effort to thwart the rodents, but cannot keep up with the trash-tossing deliveristas.
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who → work → deliveristas
When he tries to talk with them, “they try to fight with me,” he claims.
uncertain
he → try → me
“I understand they have to work, they make some deliveries but they have to follow the rules.
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they → understand → rules
They are not following the rules.”
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They → follow → rules
The NYPD had been patrolling the area since Wednesday and plans to continue enforcement in the following days, a move that was ushered in by complaints that the bikes’ lithium-ion batteries could ignite and cause a fire like the fatal blaze that killed a young boy and his family in the Bronx Wednesday.
uncertain
that → patrol → Bronx
Cops, along with Sanitation workers, removed 11 bikes this week after initially giving deliveristas a two-week grace period to remove the bikes themselves, at the behest of deliverista advocates.
asserted
Cops → remove → advocates
Neither City Hall nor the Department of Transportation immediately responded to The Post’s request for comment.
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Hall → respond → comment
The Aporia
