The Shame of Demonizing New York's 'Dangerous' Delivery Cyclists

The city of New York runs on delivery food. It’s one of the town’s great levelers, this dependence on cold sesame noodles or hot pepperoni pizza, summoned to the doorstep with a simple phone call. New Yorkers of all income levels – financial analysts and nurses, architects and postal workers – depend on the ability to dial up dinner after a hard day at work. In many of the city’s homes, the pile of grease-stained takeout menus is a more important kitchen appliance than the oven.

New Yorkers also love to complain about the guys (they are pretty much all guys) who deliver that food, usually by bicycle. Gripes about the wild-riding delivery cyclist — the one who pedals on the sidewalk, or goes the wrong way on a one-way street, increasingly on an illegal and stealthily speedy electric bike — are almost as universal as those takeout menus.