The idea came to Sergio Gustavo Ajche in the darkest days of the pandemic, when food delivery was in high demand and rest stops for delivery workers were scarce. Ajche, who lives in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, was working in Lower Manhattan when he spotted an abandoned newsstand just outside City Hall.
“I saw this one and thought, it would be great to just get a cup of coffee,” he told THE CITY in 2022. “Then we started to talk about it some more amongst ourselves, and the idea for charging ports emerged, and how powerful it would be for us to have a presence all over the city. The idea took off from there.”
On Tuesday, Ajche’s idea finally came to life. Nearly five years after U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pledged to use funds from a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to build rest stops for delivery workers, the city inaugurated its first Deliverista Hub near City Hall Park. One of the exterior charging ports is named after Ajche.
Delivery worker Sergio Gustavo Ajche first got the idea for a recharging hub at City Hall Park in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Alex Krales / THE CITY
“We hope this is just the beginning, and one day soon we can have many more all across the city,” Ajche said on Tuesday, standing outside of the repurposed former newsstand. “I’m proud that, as workers, when we stand together and we fight for things and we’re creative and persistent, we can achieve wonderful things.”
The hub, on Broadway near Murray Street, was first announced by Schumer and then-Mayor Eric Adams in October 2022. Workers will be able to charge their e-bikes and the phones they use to receive and track orders. They will also be able to repair their bikes there and take shelter from the heat or cold.
The hub is staffed by a representative from Workers Justice Project, the parent organization behind delivery worker group Los Deliveristas Unidos, and will help delivery workers learn about their rights on the job and how to submit complaints.
The deliverista hub at City Hall Park has 24-hour access for delivery workers to safely recharge e-bike batteries and phones while getting out of the heat or cold. Credit: Alex Krales / THE CITY
Ajche, members of Los Deliveristas Unidos, Schumer, and other city officials cut the ribbon on the highly-anticipated site, which city officials expect to be fully operational within days.
“I want to say to the great Deliveristas: You asked, and today, we are the ones delivering,” Schumer said.
Overcoming ‘inertia’
The hub includes two exterior charging cabinets, each with 19 charging cubbies, with 24-hour public access. E-bike riders can drop off their battery and track its progress via a mobile app, which will also unlock the cubby once the battery is ready for pickup. The converted newsstand was designed by Fantástica, a Brooklyn-based urban design firm.
After securing $1 million in federal funds from Schumer’s office, advocates had hoped to move quickly to build the hub, which sits on Parks Department land. As months turned to years, delivery workers — and the Senate minority leader — became frustrated with the slow pace of movement from the Adams administration. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s City Hall moved quickly to build the space: the actual demo and construction took about two months.
“For years my office pushed and prodded the previous administration, overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, overcoming inertia. People didn’t understand,” said Schumer. “I want to congratulate the new administration, Mayor Mamdani. They moved quickly to expedite the process.”
Delivery worker Sergio Gustavo Ajche and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer cut the ribbon to City Hall Park’s new Deliverista Hub, April 7, 20206. Credit: Alex Krales / THE CITY
Initially, the Workers Justice Project had identified two additional newsstands to repurpose as hubs on the Upper West Side and on Fordham Road in The Bronx; plans for the latter fell apart because the newsstand wasn’t actually vacant.
In 2024, Manhattan Community Board 1 rejected the City Hall plan over concerns about crowds and the hub’s modern design, which they said was out of step with the neighborhood. The vote was an advisory move that could not legally stop the project.
Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura declined to comment on the status of the Upper West Side newsstand or to identify other locations the city is considering for additional hubs.
The hubs faced sharp pushback from residents and lawmakers after a spate of deadly fires across the city caused by malfunctioning lithium-ion e-bike batteries.
But workers and advocates said the fire safety issues underscored why the hubs are necessary — after all, workers have said, they don’t want to bring the potential hazards to their own homes, either.
In tandem with its push for safe, public charging ports, Workers Justice Project has in recent years stepped up its efforts to educate members on proper e-bike and battery maintenance, including by pushing them to ensure their equipment is manufactured to federal standards, and hosting forums with the Fire Department and other city agencies.
Delivery workers celebrate the opening of a new Deliverista Hub at City Hall Park, April 7, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales / THE CITY
Meanwhile, the city Department of Transportation has also stepped in, hosting events where workers can trade-in illegal e-bikes and mopeds for safer equipment.
The charging and rest hubs are a signature project of Los Deliveristas Unidos, which formed during the 2020 pandemic as a WhatsApp group. Scores of undocumented workers — out of a job and locked out of public assistance — turned to delivery work to make ends meet in one of the few industries not only hiring but thriving as the rest of the world stayed home.
In those early days, workers earned far below the minimum wage, accused the companies of withholding tips, and shared stories of restaurants refusing entry to workers looking to relieve themselves or wash up as they picked up orders.
Other issues, such as on-the-job violence and street safety, still persist. But on Tuesday, workers celebrated the hub as the latest in a long string of victories, including a first-in-the-nation minimum pay rate.
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