‘Just Befriend the Doorman and Don’t Arouse Suspicion’

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30 GETTING AROUND [‘Just Befriend the Doorman and Don’t Arouse Suspicion’]( E-bike riders are sneaking past their buildings’ bans with flattery (and sometimes deception). Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Facebook, Getty, Reddit A [rise in deadly fires caused by lithium-ion batteries]( has led to a parallel rise in e-bike bans at buildings and institutions across the city, from Manhattan luxury developments to Columbia dorms to Chinatown walk-ups: “I want to cry,” one person recently wrote on Reddit. “E-bikes banned by the co-op board in my building.” While most of these fires are caused by badly manufactured or refurbished batteries, blanket bans on storing micromobility vehicles often make no exceptions for UL-certified batteries or bikes from reputable manufacturers, so the Riese & Müller Load–riding parents of Park Slope and the VanMoofers of Williamsburg are now left with the question of where to put their newly designated contraband. (This is also why many bike-safety advocates have advised against this approach. “A ban is blunt and an overly broad correction,” Aaron Charlop-Powers, a member of Families for Safe Streets, told [Streetsblog]( last year, cautioning that it may force “unsafe practices further underground.”) [Continue reading »]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [It’s Not a Chess Club. It’s Club Chess. The game of kings has become an unlikely downtown craze.]( By Bindu Bansinath [How Fort Greene Park Got Fenced In To maintain its grass, my local park was carved up by wooden posts and caution tape.]( By Kim Velsey [Celebrities Seem to Like the Brooklyn Waterfront Sprawling apartments, water views, and relatively paparazzi-proof.]( By Adriane Quinlan [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( Introducing The City Desk, a weekly newsletter about New York. [Sign up to get it every Thursday](. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved