The day after a raging fire caused by exploding lithium-ion batteries killed four residents living above a Chinatown e-bike shop last June, FDNY inspectors began spot-checking locations where multiple e-bikes were being charged and stored across the city.
What they discovered was disturbing: three out of four e-bike charging locations the FDNY cited for dangerous conditions were within residential buildings, often with multiple batteries being improperly charged on floors just below where residents live and sleep.
They found batteries plugged into extension cords. Dozens of batteries charging in one spot. Retail stores without required fire suppression systems.
From June 20, the day of the Chinatown fire, through the end of November, the FDNY completed 234 of these inspections across all five boroughs, issuing at least one civil summons or violation during 139 of these visits, according to FDNY data obtained by THE CITY via the Freedom of Information Law.
In 106 of the 139 inspections where citations were issued, inspectors discovered potentially volatile lithium-ion batteries being charged within structures where people live — including single-family homes, multi-unit rentals, co-ops and even luxury condos, an analysis by THE CITY found.
And yet another hazard is surfacing in city inspections. A city law that took effect in September forbids the sale or rental of e-bike batteries that are not certified by product safety testers such as UL Solutions.
Since then, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) has issued 82 summonses to local retailers for selling, leasing or renting the devices, DCWP officials told THE CITY. They also issued 40 cease-and-desist orders to online sellers, including Amazon, for non-compliance.
On Dec. 5, THE CITY requested the locations where inspectors found illegal, uncertified batteries for sale. DCWP has not disclosed the retailers or their addresses.
E-bike shops and charging spots cited by the FDNY are located all over the city, as are the fires caused by the batteries stored in these locations, THE CITY’s analysis shows.
As the number of e-bikes and e-scooters in New York City multiplied during and after the pandemic, the number of fires triggered by the lithium-ion batteries that power these devices rose dramatically — from 30 in 2019 to 268 last year.
Examining FDNY data on the locations of these fires, THE CITY found that they often erupt within residential structures. During the first nine months of last year, the latest data available, 120 fires — more than half of the 204 total — happened within structures described as “multiple dwelling,” meaning apartments, or “private dwelling,” FDNY records show.
The consequences have been profound.
The 666 battery-triggered fires that have erupted in New York City since 2019 have resulted in 28 deaths and 412 injuries. One of the more recent conflagrations occurred Nov. 12 in a multi-family row house at 242 Albany Ave., in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Three members of a family died; 13 building residents and one firefighter were injured. FDNY blamed an exploding battery that was being charged inside one of the apartments.
In response to this wave of battery fires, the FDNY has launched a campaign urging e-bike and e-scooter owners to rely exclusively on batteries certified as safe and to make sure to charge and store them properly.
Uncertified batteries and those that are improperly charged are vulnerable to explosions that ignite fast-burning chemical fires that are extremely difficult to put out.
The FDNY requires that in e-bike repair and sales shops, no more than five batteries are to be charged in one spot, that they should be kept away from repair areas and should be charged only in rooms with adequate alarm systems. The department also advises against charging batteries next to exit doors or flammable materials.
Violations are issued when inspectors discover illegal and potentially dangerous conditions that could result in explosions.
Since the June fire in Chinatown, FDNY inspectors have consistently discovered unsafe battery situations during inspections across the city, often in response to 311 calls from concerned New Yorkers red-flagging what they suspect are dangerous conditions.
As the numbers rose, fire officials grew increasingly worried about the potential for danger within residential properties.
Hours after the deadly fire at 80 Madison St. in June, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh stood outside the charred ruins of the six-story brick structure and stated, “It is very important that we get the word out at how incredibly dangerous this is. It is the exact scenario where there are e-bikes stored on the first floor with residents above…. This is incredibly sensitive.”
A week later and a few blocks away at 91 Canal St. in a first-floor e-bike shop with four stories of apartments above, inspectors found between 115 and 130 batteries, including some that had been tampered with. During their removal, some of the batteries burst into flames.
“It is very important to note there were people living above,” Kavanagh noted.
Illegal Repair Shops
Sometimes the owners of the cited shops don’t get the message even after getting hit with fines that range from $1,000 up to $5,000 for a repeat violation. The Canal Street location was one of 41 sites where the FDNY had issued prior violations and returned to discover continued non-compliance with the law, records show.
In May, inspectors found 129 batteries charging there and issued summonses. When they returned on June 27, they found similar dangerous conditions, issuing three civil summonses, one violation order and three criminal summonses to the owners of 91 Canal E-Bike, along with a partial vacate order for the cellar and first floor of the building. A hearing on those summonses is pending.
Since the Chinatown fire, FDNY inspectors have cited five more locations not because of 311 calls but because of fires at these spots. All started in residential properties, including one fire on Tinton Avenue in the Morrisania section of the Bronx that started in a vacant home and spread to an adjacent multi-family home.
After an August fire in a home on 101st Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, where a 93-year-old woman living on the second floor died, inspectors discovered an illegal e-bike repair shop in the basement.
In most cases, inspectors showed up unannounced responding to tips from the public and other city agencies. And while many of these tips sent the department to small three-story or six-story rowhouses in more modest neighborhoods of the outer boroughs and upper and lower Manhattan, some directed them to New York’s more affluent neighborhoods.
In September, FDNY issued violations for unsafe battery charging/storage at a six-story loft building at 113 W. 25th St. in Chelsea where a one-bedroom penthouse now lists for $1.4 million. In June fire inspectors issued a violation at a 10-story, 38-unit Upper East Side condo at 334 E. 87th St. where a sixth floor two-bedroom’s current sale price is $784,000.
A similar dangerous condition existed at 200 E. 15th St., a 17-story 213 unit apartment building near Gramercy Park with a doorman, where one-bedrooms rent for $4,700.
FDNY inspectors responding to a 311 tip about a big e-bike charging station in the building’s parking garage showed up June 28 and issued a criminal summons. They contacted the city Department of Buildings, and building inspectors who arrived the next day found electrical boxes with 50 outlets and 30 strip outlets with no electrical permit on file. DOB cited the building owner, Kenwood Estates, for performing electrical work without a permit.
A month later, the FDNY returned following a second tip and found similar circumstances. They issued two civil summonses and again contacted the buildings department.
When building inspectors showed up July 31 the owner “refused access to the area in the garage where the batteries are stored/charging,” records state. When the inspectors returned three days later, they got into the garage and “observed tens of electric bicycles charging” and unsafe wiring without required circuit breakers, records show.
In response to DOB’s violation for doing electrical work without a permit, Kenwood submitted a “Certificate of Correction” claiming the problem was fixed but did not provide details of what they actually did to fix it, building officials said. As a result, Kenwood remained in non-compliance as of last week.
On Jan. 5, THE CITY photographed four e-bikes being charged in a corner of the East 15th Street building’s garage next to a sign reading “Charge Station.” Later in the month, THE CITY visited the garage where a sign at the entrance reads, “WALK YOUR BIKES INSIDE” and found three e-bikes parked in a corner next to several parked vehicles. Two tenants who asked to remain anonymous said they were unaware that the FDNY and DOB had issued citations over the e-bike charging station inspectors found in the garage last summer, noting that the building management has yet to mention it.
In September the buildings department rejected Kenwood’s claim that it was in compliance, finding that they’d failed to describe in detail the work that they actually performed to resolve the violation as required. An $830 penalty is pending, with a hearing set for March. Kenwood did not respond to THE CITY’s request for comment.
Many of the locations cited by the FDNY for unsafe battery charging were storefront e-bike shops with apartments above them. One particular franchise — Fly E-Bikes — stood out.
Over last summer into the fall, FDNY hit nine different Fly E-Bike locations around the city with either civil summonses or violation orders, or both, including in response to an Oct. 30 fire at 662 Nostrand Ave., in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. There, Fly E-Bike operated on the first floor with two residential floors above.
Fire officials say inspectors noted Fly E-Bike franchises they visited often relied on batteries that lacked safety certifications. The Department of Consumer & Worker Protection has issued 77 violations at Fly E-Bike shops around the city for selling batteries without safety certifications, and flagged the umbrella company with a cease-and-desist letter with 10 violations for selling these dangerous batteries online.
“We continue to engage with Fly E-Bike to bring them into compliance,” DCWP spokesperson Michael Lanza told THE CITY.
Fly E-Bike did not respond to THE CITY’s request for comment.