2 E-Bike Battery-Swapping Stations Proposed For UES

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — New York City's Department of Transportation is planning to install e-bike battery swapping stations on the Upper East Side, and is asking locals to weigh in on the locations before they get built.

E-bike battery swapping stations are electrified cabinets where e-bike riders can plug in dead batteries and pick up full ones.

The city has flagged 25 potential locations for the battery-swapping stations across the city, and has launched a public online portal for neighborhood feedback.

"We’re building a city around the people who live and work here — their jobs, their dreams, their lives reflected in the infrastructure we invest in," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. "I’m proud to help bring New Yorkers’ voices into this citywide rollout, and I’m eager to see how people shape it through the public portal."

The two locations being floated for battery swapping stations on the Upper East Side are:

• East 79th Street and Second Avenue
• East 73rd Street and First Avenue

Over the borders in East Harlem and Midtown East, locations are proposed at:

• East 99th Street and First Avenue
• East 103rd Street and First Avenue

• East 57th Street and Second Avenue
• East 54th Street and Third Avenue

Part of the city's push for battery swapping stations is to decrease the number of fires associated with lithium-ion e-bike batteries.

The use of uncertified batteries, improper charging and lack of safe storage have resulted in several fires in New York City, the DOT said.

The two locations proposed for the Upper East Side were picked because the stations could be built without cutting into pedestrian space, the DOT said.

The DOT will review public feedback on the preliminary sites, refine the list based on that input and create a prioritized slate of about 25 locations to move into the design phase.

The agency expects to bring power to the final sites, with cabinets ready for use, beginning in 2028.

Submit your thoughts to the DOT here. The DOT is accepting feedback through July 31st.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.