Transcript: Mayor Adams, FDNY Commissioner Kavanagh, SBS Commissioner Kim Announce Plan to Step up Lithium-Ion Battery Inspections, Education Efforts to Prevent Further Bike Shop Fires

June 21, 2023

Deputy Mayor Philip Banks, Public Safety: Good afternoon. I'm deputy mayor of Public Safety Phillip Banks. I'm joined here today, of course, by the mayor of New York City, Mayor Eric Adams, the Small Business Services commissioner, Kevin Kim, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, the Department of Consumer and Work Protection First Deputy Commissioner Kenny Minaya, the Council member, Chris Marte. We also have from the NYPD transportation section, Captain Mark Turner. We have the fire marshal for the FDNY, Chief Flynn, and we have a chief from the fire prevention, Chief Brian Cordasco.

A mere three blocks south of where we stand today was the site of a tragedy yesterday. Four people lost their lives and two others were injured in a fire that started due to lithium-ion batteries in an e-bike repair shop. I cannot stress how dangerous these fires are because of how quickly they start and how quickly they spread. This is a message that the mayor and the fire commissioner have been announcing for a very long time, but they are avoidable and that's what makes this more of a tragedy. It's that lethal combination that has made them tied for the leading causes of fire death in New York City. Again, once again, these are avoidable.

We have been working tirelessly to prevent these senseless death and injuries, and today we are announcing another action to protect New Yorkers from these devastating fires. The job is not done until the number of fatalities from these batteries is zero. I'd now like to turn it over to Mayor Adams, the mayor of the City of New York.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thanks so much, deputy, and really want to thank the fire commissioner who placed this on our radar and has just been forward-thinking on how we can be protective without punitive. Because many of the people who are using, particularly the refurbished batteries, are from low income areas, and they use the batteries as part of their vital services. And that is why I joined today our response to another level of this includes our Small Business Services commissioner as well as the NYPD and as well as FDNY. And I will encourage everyone to get a full scope of the severity of this issue is to look at some of the video that the commissioner shared with me last year on how rapidly these fires spread, the challenges that are associated with putting out the fire, and the difficulty when you place the bike, the item or whatever's used in the battery in the wrong place. It spreads rather quickly the explosive response. It is really alarming to see, and that is why we continue to lead from the front and the actions that we have been taking for quite some time.

So again, commissioner, thank you for your forward-thinking and your quick response to this issue of combining enforcement with education, and as I stated, being protective without being punitive. She has dedicated herself around this issue because we saw the spread. The more and more at-home deliveries, more and more services, the more and more we use alternate methods of transportation, the more and more of these lithium batteries are being used, and that is what happened. It was one of those types of batteries that caught fire the other day, as the deputy mayor stated, killed four of our neighbors and left two others fighting for their lives. And our hearts go out to those family members and so many others who are experiencing some form of injuries or loss of property due to these lithium batteries.

I want to again thank the Fire Department, our bravest, for responding to these fires. I recall being out in the Bronx when we saw a laundromat and another building go up in flames. The firefighters have to respond and deal with these fires accordingly.

We've been sounding alarm for months about lithium batteries. We need real action, not only on the state level but on the federal level. There have been over 108 lithium-ion related battery fires in this city this year alone, and we must continue to ramp up our enforcement and educational effort. Effective immediately, 311 calls regarding questionable activity at bike repair shops or any other location where batteries are being charged will get a response from the local fire station within 12 hours instead of the 72 hours currently required. Examples of questionable activities will include large numbers of batteries being charged close together, mazes of extension cords, sale of batteries that appear to be refurbished, and informal charging centers that do not appear to be property licensed businesses.

And we're asking the public to play a role. Let's not wait until this is going to victimize your family. If you see it, please report it. Every call will be investigated quickly, and violations will result in enforcement. The rapid response policy will save lives. E-bikes are an important part of our transportation network and essential to many small businesses, but there will be zero tolerance for activity that puts New Yorkers at risk. From the kind of explosive fires that we are seeing from faulty or improperly charging lithium-ion batteries to those who are selling refurbished batteries, we are going to respond accordingly.

In addition to increased enforcement, we'll be stepping up our education efforts, making sure that everyone using e-bikes or charging batteries are aware of safety rules and regulation as well as the risk involved. Starting today, Small Business Services will partner with the FDNY to reach bike and bike repair shops across the five boroughs as part of a massive public awareness campaign about lithium-ion battery safety.
DOT has already helped distribute more than 10,000 pieces of educational material in several languages. They want to help deliver workers and other e-bike riders and maintain their bike safely by giving them the information they need. Every New Yorker who uses an e-bike or uses e-scooters can help keep themselves and the city safe or following the tips. And the tips are simple, and these tips are on some of the pamphlets that we're handing out, and we will hope these tips are broadcast over the major news channels.

Batteries should be stored and charged in open spaces. Never use extension cords to charge batteries. Do not store batteries near exit or doors or leave them unattended when charging. Many of these incidents happen when the batteries and the devices are at exit locations blocking the exits that individuals are allowed to flee. Batteries should never be charged overnight. If a battery overheats, stop using it. Dispose of lithium-ion batteries safely at one of our New York City battery recycling centers, which you can find at nyc.gov/batteries.

So the administration is clear. We know that this is a real issue, and we are moving forward to address it, and we are committed to helping individuals with these batteries transition away from faulty and unsafe ones. We did it legislatively by signing five bills that banned the sale of uncertified e-vehicles as well as refurbished batteries, and we also are doing it through education. We release our Charge Safe, Ride Safe plan to help New Yorkers use e-bikes and e-scooters safely. Being in New York, it means looking out for your community. So this is our response to the community [inaudible] to play a role, take this issue seriously. We don't need to wait for another tragedy and loss of lives or injuries to our first responders who are responding to these e-batteries.

Again, the commissioner has been on top of this issue. She has put in place a massive response and educational campaign. The loss of four lives is something that should impact all of us. Let's be proactive to prevent this incident from reoccurring. Thank you very much.

Deputy Mayor Banks: And next we'll hear from the Commissioner of SBS, Kevin Kim.

Commissioner Kevin Kim, Department of Small Business Services: Thank you Mayor Adams, Deputy Mayor Banks, Commissioner Kavanagh, for working with the Department of Small Business Services to take swift action in the wake of this horrible tragedy. So much of what we do at SBS is to educate our small businesses on compliance, and we are here today to offer that same important service to all of our e-bike shops, repair shops, and delivery workers.

Simply put, education is the key to prevention. For these businesses. The risk of non-compliance is not just a monetary penalty. It can be a matter of life and death as we tragically saw here in Chinatown. So starting today, as the mayor announced, we're going to be working even more closely with FDNY. We've already had education sessions around the safe usage of lithium batteries, but we're going to work even more closely together to equip e-bike businesses with the knowledge and tools to protect against lithium battery fires. In close coordination with the FDNY outreach team, our SBS outreach team, including our emergency response unit, as well as you can see over there, our mobile RV unit, we're going to go door to door in commercial quarters with the highest concentration of e-bike businesses to hand out educational information in 11 different languages. We want every business to know how to safely use, charge, and store electric bikes.

We will also work with our vast network of community-based organizations, including our 76 business improvement districts, like the Chinatown BID that's represented here today, to go deep into the communities in language and with trusted messengers. We already started today in lower Manhattan. We visited over 12 businesses with FDNY's outreach team to educate them, to have conversations about how serious this issue is, and we're going to be spreading this highly coordinated effort through all the five boroughs starting right now. Thank you very much.

Deputy Mayor Banks: Thank you. Thank you, commissioner. And as the mayor has always said about the importance of the agencies working together and that collaboration is our duty to keep New Yorkers safe, we're going now hear from Laura Kavanagh, the FDNY commissioner. I think you're going to hear another agency that's actually going to be involved in this. This is something as a city that we can do. We can actually do this, and we can actually limit and minimize and effectively cut out these particular fires. So right now I'd like to introduce Laura Kavanagh, FDNY commissioner.

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh: Thank you. Thank you very much and thank you to the mayor and the deputy mayor for supporting these efforts since I raised the alarm. And thank you to both everybody behind me and our community outreach teams and of course to Commissioner Kim who took my call early in the morning as I was responding to the fire and was partnered with us, and most of all to our firefighters who respond to these incredibly dangerous fires and our EMTs and medics who treat the patients when they come out.

As many of you know, early Tuesday morning we had a fire at 80 Madison Street in an e-bike shop, which was determined by our marshals to be caused by lithium-ion batteries. That fire very sadly claimed the lives of four New Yorkers and critically injured two others. We have been sounding the alarm on the dangers of lithium-ion batteries for some time now. This latest tragedy shows us that we need to do more and we have to continue to raise the alarm, and so we are today.

We are very grateful to announce a partnership with the city's small business services to continue educational outreach, to target bike and repair shops about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries. And as you heard from everyone up here, this is a true city partnership, and we are going to work together to make sure that our bike shops and our local businesses are aware of the real life dangers that these present. They are not just about fines. Lives are on the line, both of residents and of our members.

Separately, we are also encouraging New Yorkers with concerns about battery locations to call 311 today. Those calls will be turned over to fire prevention and to our local fire companies for an immediate response.

When fire companies get that call about a lithium-ion battery or a bike shop, our members will respond forthwith. If a unit is out at a fire, they will respond as soon as possible, and complaints will be handled within 12 hours of when they were received.

What should New Yorkers report? First and foremost, I'd like to say if you have a concern, please call. We will arrive and assess the situation. But things you can look for, batteries being charged less than three feet apart, multiple batteries being charged at once, extension cords, and most especially batteries that look like they might be tampered with and locations that look like they're not properly licensed businesses.

Our fire safety education teams have also been out all over the city, starting here, but moving to other neighborhoods, reminding New Yorkers of the dangers of batteries. We know that these devices are already in people's homes, and I'd like to remind people of that today. While this fire yesterday was extraordinarily tragic and was in a business, most of the fire deaths that we have seen that are caused by lithium-ion batteries are in people's individual apartments or homes. And so it's important to keep that message going as well on how to use them safely at home. Do not block your exit with a bike. Do not charge it overnight. Do not plug it into an extension cord. Do not use extension cords or cords or batteries that have been tampered with or did not come with the device.

Our fire prevention teams have already conducted 222 inspections across the city related to lithium-ion battery concerns at both residential and commercial locations. Understanding that our enforcement is centered on the idea of giving people a chance to do the right thing even as we know some locations are going to require heavier enforcement than others. We have issued over 476 oath summonses that can carry a fine between a thousand and $5,000 and we have issued 136 violations for more egregious, more hazardous conditions. Here we still give time to remedy the violation, but violations become criminal summons after 30 days if the hazard isn't remedied.

We'd like to just reinforce at the end of this, as you've seen yesterday, we have come at this from every angle as a city and we must continue to do so. We met with our federal partners yesterday after this fire, we met with the mayor's office. This is something that we will continue to come at as a department and a city until it has been mitigated, but it is incredibly important that we work together with the community and our other agencies. Over and over we have seen that these dangerous conditions continue to persist even as we have done outreach. And so we're imploring the community to work with us today as we do more enforcement, as we work with all of our partners to tackle this issue. Please help work with us and make sure to get the word out about how dangerous these devices are in a business or in a home. Thank you.

Question: As far as the enforcement that was supposed to happen at this shop that did not happen, I wanted to see where that disconnect was and how that's being addressed.

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: So there was enforcement at this shop. A year ago our inspectors from fire prevention arrived there, found violations, they pled guilty to those violations, and there has been continued surveillance at the location. We are proactively, as you heard today, trying to get to additional locations because what we saw here and we've seen before, they continued to return to that illegal behavior as soon as we had left and as soon as they'd paid those fines.

Question: Follow up real quick. We hear a lot from the workers, the delivery folks, that the one big solution here could be some kind of buy back, some kind of financial incentive to get rid of the batteries that are already on the street. What kind of prospects are there for that kind of a program?

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: That is part of the mayor's Charge Safe, Ride Safe plan. And we are an integral partner in that. So we're having conversations. We had some, we've had some over the course of the last few months, and those continue. We have an interest as the fire department in making sure, as you mentioned, that safe devices are available to our delivery workers. We recognize they depend on these for their livelihood.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, quick follow-up on the buyback program. There's a bill in the council specifically for that. Do you support that bill for a buyback…

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry?

Question: Support the Council's buyback program bill by Keith Powers.

Mayor Adams: Our legislative inter-governmental affairs is looking over that bill to determine the cost factor involved. The difference between the Council and the City Hall, the Council can spend as much as they want. The City Hall has to figure out how to balance the books, but we're looking at it. We are encouraged about finding ways can federal help, state help, and even Council help with some of their discretionary dollars to put into a pot to do buyback? So we're hoping that they're willing to look at some of this discretionary dollars to help with this.

Question: Mayor, what would you say to residents who live above these shops right now and seen this fire and now are really worried about this and frankly don't want them there?

Mayor Adams: See something, say something, call, let us know. Within 12 hours, we will be there to investigate. And we want to be clear. We are not demonizing every shop that sells batteries. We want those that are creating an unsafe environment. So because you live on top of a bike shop does not mean that you're in a dangerous situation. We will investigate, but make the determination based on train eyes, and we will rectify the situation.

Question: Mr. Mayor, you said protect don't persecute. Why not just shut these places down? You find them already and just shut them down and then you don't have to worry about whether they comply or keep operating in a bad way?

Mayor Adams: Because it's called America. That's just not how we do things. We don't just go in based on the level of a violation. We take appropriate actions. And if the level of a violation is that we go in, do an investigation, and determine that someone did something incorrect, we try to rectify that because when you talk about the countless number of shops that are doing it right or making a mistake, when you start saying, let's just shut everyone down, now we're dealing with the low wage employees that are doing the right thing. The goal is to correct an action. Habitual abusers, we will shut down. We will say it's not going to be accepted, but we're not going to create a knee-jerk reaction that says every place that they're selling batteries, we're going to shut down. But then who's going to supply those who are legally using those batteries to carry out their job? We need a very tactful, a very thoughtful, a very clear message that we're going to give people and that is what we are doing.

Question: Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: Yes, sir.

Question: [inaudible] refurbished and I want to focus on refurbished. That's Local Law 42 that you're talking about that you signed and it went into effect March 20th. And it basically says, can't sell refurbished battery because they're more dangerous and can cause things that happened on Madison Street. So right now, as of today, it's been three months that law has been in effect. Commissioner, maybe you can answer this. How many citations have been issued specifically for local law 42 violations?

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: So I don't know the specific number of citations. What I'd say is we were intimately involved in negotiating that law. It was part of a package of bills that has been incredibly helpful. In almost every location we visit, there are multiple violations. There are people charging off of power codes, overloading outlets, so on and so forth. So we can…

Question: [Inaudible] mayor mentioned that this is an issue. Refurbished batteries, an issue. What are you seeing?

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: It is an issue. That law will make sure that if someone is only using refurbished batteries, that we can write a violation or even vacate them. But in most cases, we are finding multiple violations. So that law is going to help with our continued enforcement, we don't need that single individual law to shut a lot of these businesses down or to find them.

Question: Hey, one last follow-up. So in this particular… The May 9th revisits, we'll call it, the inspector did not go and look at the cells of the battery, just looked at the oh, look, extension cord. What is the protocol to try find refurbished batteries during inspections?

Fire Commissioner Kavanagh: We have instructed all of our responding companies and fire prevention to specifically know what to look for in terms of a refurbished battery.

Question: Yeah, thanks so much. Mr. Mayor, you mentioned the low income workers that predominantly drive these e-bikes, especially delivery workers for large companies like Uber, Grubhub, DoorDash, Seamless. What role do those companies have to play? Seeing as though they're making a lot of money off of people who are using their own equipment here who often say they can't afford these top end batteries.

Mayor Adams: Well, and they should play a role. We want to sit down with everyone. The Grubhubs, the Uber Eats, all of them should play a role in making sure that we allow these valid batteries to be turned in to make sure that we have a pot of money to be used to allow the employees to return them. So everyone has an obligation in a role in making sure the right supply's out there and that this endangerment doesn't continue to spread. Our response has been comprehensive and has been very inclusive with a great deal of education, a great deal of enforcement, and a great deal of making sure that people realize these are dangerous devices, but they should play a role. Everyone should play a role.

Question: [Inaudible] these batteries?

Mayor Adams: I think that's part of the conversation that we need to bring people to the table with and figure that out. That is part of the conversation on doing so.

Question: [Inaudible] Jennifer Cabana from New York 1 Noticias. Unfortunately, no matter how much you try to educate people, [inaudible] comply. Have you guys posted any of your plans external charging docking stations for e-bikes, is that part of the plan at any time?

Mayor Adams: External…

Question: Docking stations and charging stations outside of the apartment buildings or even businesses. Is that part of the plan?

Mayor Adams: And logistically we have to figure that out. Where do you put it? How do you do it? There may be an entire entirely new industry out there that someone may create on having external docking stations. So logistically, all of these good ideas have to be figured out logistically, how do we go about doing it? Nothing is off the table in trying to resolve this problem. And we're open to any ideas that people have, like you just shared with us. Logistically, you have to figure that out and make it happen.

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