Pictured: Mayor Mary Marvin. Photo by N. Bower

By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

Note: To learn more about what's going on in Bronxville, here is a link to the Village of Bronxville December "One Square Mile" newsletter.

Dec. 18, 2024: Some of you heard about a recent and upsetting interaction between a homeowner and a delivery person via a private email communication list.

The incident and its distribution prompted me to share details with all residents via the police report information and revisit the whole issue of food delivery in the Village.

To put in perspective and go back a bit, delivery folks from some of the main services, including Door Dash and Uber, actually started with car deliveries in the Village.

After the cars received an excessive number of violations, they switched to mopeds. When mopeds began to be ticketed as allowed per New York State law, everything morphed into E bikes as the regulation of E bikes, hard as it is to believe, is virtually nonexistent per New York State laws.

The Village Police Department historically impounded mopeds under available laws only to see the drivers reappear the next day with an E-bike from their employer. Our police department has impounded almost 100 E-bikes/mopeds due to lack of proper registration, one of the very few tools we have to regulate these vehicles.

In the next generation of current enforcement, after paying for interpreters, usually someone who speaks French as many of the drivers in the Village are Senegalese, a minimal fine can be levied on E-bike violations. The whole process is quite costly to the Village.

However, we recognize and appreciate the initiative of the hard-working drivers trying to make a living and want to partner with them to conduct business in a safe and appropriate manner.

Issues With Delivery By E-Bike

E-Bike Delivery is Legal under NYS Law

As example of how much our hands are tied under current New York State law, if a resident parked an E-bike on the sidewalk near a store to pick up an order, it would be a violation but if the same E-bike was driven by a delivery driver and parked in the same place, they are exempt. This legislative anomaly was championed by folks representing New York City who wanted to encourage this particular kind of employment. E-bikes also do not require any licensing from the State of New York.

No Vetting Process of Skill Set of Drivers is Required

In terms of the skill sets of delivery drivers, it is also important to know that none of the major employers require any vetting process.

Usage Has Gotten Ahead of Regulation

E-bike usage quite simply got ahead of their regulation. In the interest of safety, I have reached out to our State Senator Shelley Mayer and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin who have agreed to advance legislation on our behalf to regulate these bikes.

As further example of usage being ahead of regulation, when riding home from Manhattan recently on a very crowded evening train, I was within inches of 4 E-bikes which I was positive must not be legal to be transported on Metro North. It turns out there are no regulations at that level of transport either.

Loitering Law Doesn't Apply

We are charting new territory. Some of you have suggested possibly employing the loitering law to disperse large groups of people, not just the food drivers, but groups who perhaps congregate in the Village.

The current language of the loitering law in New York allows a police officer to only disperse individuals if they are congregating for the specific purposes of gambling or prostitution.

We have given the E-bike drivers space to park in an area across from Starbucks on Kraft Avenue, have delivered water on hot days and are working to provide reflective vests as many of you have commented on near misses while driving as most E bike drivers have dark colored bikes, as well as dark colored parkas and hats.

By working with all constituent interests, I believe anything is solvable in our Village and ask you to consider the following ideas to ameliorate the negatives of this service while enjoying the benefits.

For Our Merchants Who Profit From The E-Bike Delivery Business

-Get together with your fellow merchants and vet the folks who will be doing your deliveries or better yet jointly hire a delivery person as done by Underhill’s and Gino’s.

-Lobby the companies you do use to vet their drivers.

-Be diligent in rating drivers for their behavior and report poor performance back to their employers.

-Check where they park their vehicles.

-Put a minimum amount on delivery orders so that we are not delivering one pint of ice cream or one iced coffee which has been the case.

-Limit the hours of delivery so that there is a break or hiatus in traffic in the Village and offer the driver sanitary facilities.

-We also have to factor in the cost of the added police presence and enforcement. This delivery convenience service comes at a steep price in terms of police overtime and court time for judges, Village court staff and interpreters.

How Residents Can Help

-Residents can help by limiting multiple orders and not purchasing single items for delivery.

-We have so many drivers waiting in the Village because we generate so many orders.

More About Recent Incident in Bronxville

As to the incident I referenced at the top of this column, a resident was quite justifiably frightened by an unfortunate sequence of events that resulted in her and her children being surprised by a delivery person upstairs in her home.

From the police report, the gentlemen had an order to deliver to the home in question and mistakenly, it also had an apartment number on the slip.

Upon arrival and after ringing repeatedly, the driver opened the unlocked door believing a hallway to further living units. Intent on finding the customer, frankly in the hopes of receiving a tip which is much of his nightly wages, he continued into the home. 

Due to a language barrier, the resulting surprise confrontation was frightening to say the least. The food merchant was completely cooperative as was the driver and the homeowner chose not to press charges.

I am asking everyone who benefits from this service to come together and help the Village so we can restore an improved atmosphere of safety and calm in all our neighborhoods.