We take a deep dive into the future of urban mobility, focusing on a groundbreaking initiative to support e-bike delivery workers and the public in New York City through a new Mobility Hub next to City Hall, with battery recharging, repair, and rest areas.

Disclosure: We own common stock in Oonee through Republic Investors because we believe in non-car mobility. The purchase was made two (2) years ago. When setting up this interview, we did not know that Oonee and Fantástica were run by the same principals.

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Show notes & links

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• Fantástica
  
  
• Oonee secure bike parking
  
  
• Los Deliveristas Unidos – Worker’s Justice Project
  
  
• African Burial Ground & The Commons Historic District (PDF)
  
  
• Community Board Landmarks meeting – 3/14/2024 Manhattan Community Board 1 Landmarks & Preservation Committee meeting. They voted against the proposal on an advisory role
  
  
• Landmarks meeting video – LPC Public Hearing/Meeting 4/16/2024. The board approved the design with limited modifications in coordination with the staff
  

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Episode Overview

Top Themes

1. 
   
2. Lack of Safe Charging Locations: Currently, delivery workers face challenges in finding safe locations to charge their e-bike batteries, often resorting to unsafe practices.
   
   
3. Proposal for a Bike Hub: The proposed bike hub will provide secure, safe, and accessible charging stations for e-bike batteries, helping delivery workers and the public. The hub will include state-of-the-art facilities for quick bike tune-ups, battery charging, and assistance from staff. It will be a community resource open to everyone.
   
   
4. Community Impact: The hub aims to serve not just delivery workers but the entire community, offering a space for bike parking, repairs, and charging.
   
   
5. Urban Mobility and Infrastructure: The need for new infrastructure to support the growing use of micro-mobility devices like e-bikes in urban environments.
   
   
6. Safety and Accessibility: Ensuring that new mobility solutions are safe, accessible, and meet the needs of diverse users, particularly vulnerable groups like delivery workers. Adapting existing technologies and creating new solutions to meet the specific needs of users, such as customized charging cabinets for different types of e-bike batteries.
   
   
7. Public and Private Collaboration: The importance of collaboration between public entities (like the parks department and landmarks department) and private companies (like Oonee) to create effective urban solutions.
   
   
8. Future of Urban Spaces: Reimagining and repurposing existing urban spaces (like old newspaper stands) to meet current and future mobility needs.
   

Guest Bio: J. Manuel Mansylla (manman)

J. Manuel Mansylla (manman) founded design studio  FANTÁSTICA in 2008 specializing in transformative projects to revitalize underutilized assets and unlock economic potential.

As an urban designer at the forefront of a trend to create effective public spaces through rapid, agile transformation, he rose to early success in his home country of Guatemala, where he was tapped to lead an innovative project to revitalize a neglected area of Guatemala City into a contemporary art and tech hub. Working together with both the public and private sector in the creation of the region’s first “special districts,” the project helped transform the area’s brand identity, land use, and public space strategy. Today, Cuatro Grados Norte, is one of the most vibrant destinations in the country, and has one of the highest concentrations of new buildings going up in all of Guatemala City.

“The idea of a mobility hub is still not clear in people’s mind, but if we think about the turn of the century when cars started popping up and there were no gas stations, we’re in the midst of a micro-mobility revolution, and yet there’s no service stations for all of these devices.”

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