Chick-fil-A opens an oasis for food delivery workers
A Chick-fil-A on the Upper East Side opened a rest area for food delivery workers on Thursday as the city’s rollout of rest hubs continues to face resistance.
The new 5,000-square-foot space, called the Brake Room, is located on Third Ave. between E. 83rd and E. 84th Sts. It has bathrooms, outlets, bike parking, coffee and tea and a lounge area. It’s all free for food deliverers, who must show proof they’ve made a dropoff within the past week to get inside.
Chick-fil-A worked with delivery drivers around the city to plan the space, starting the conversations in August, according to company rep Katie Joiner. The original idea dates back to before the COVID outbreak, she said.
“Our business depends on them, especially in New York City with our operators, who do so much business with third-party delivery apps,” Joiner explained.
“We were looking for an opportunity to create a space where we can hopefully show them a bit more gratitude, and just to say thank you for all the hard work that they do.”
The rest stop is temporary — it will be open until mid-April — although Joiner said Chick-fil-A is open to extending the project. Like the fast-food chain, it’ll be closed on Sundays.
The location was chosen because of the nearby E. 86th St. joint’s popularity, Joiner said. That’s caused some strife in the neighborhood over clogged sidewalks due to delivery workers.
Uber and DoorDash deliverer Jorge Estrada, 44, was among Thursday’s visitors to the rest stop, saying, “I’d come back here just to use the bathroom — it can be really hard to find a bathroom when I’m working.”
The site also got positive reviews from Pedro Espinosa, 36, the first official visitor.
“It’s perfect. It’s clean,” he said. “It’s warm today, but the city needs more places. There’s not a lot of places with heating in the winter.”
Brake Room marks the first initiative by a private company in city to provide resources to appbased delivery workers.
“Grubhub is grateful to the city and federal government for their support of our delivery partners ... and we are ready to work with them in any way we can to make sure this initiative is implemented and expanded successfully,” Liza Dee, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a statement.
A DoorDash rep said the company doesn’t have any plans to start a similar initiative. UberEats didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. “In metro areas like New York City, we see the same food delivery workers come through nearly every day of the week, several times a day, and how taking an extra second to warm-up between deliveries or offering a glass of water helps to fuel them on for their shift.,” Jared Caldwell, owner and operator of the E. 86th St. Chick-fil-A, said in a statement.
But that location has been a sore spot for the community, creating traffic jams in the past year, according to Craig Lader, Community Board 8’s transportation committee co-chairman.
“Everyone’s supportive of the dignity of these workers, but from a community standpoint, we want to make sure that this doesn’t have any additional consequences like additional congestion or shifting congestion,” he said of Brake Room.
The city’s 65,000 food deliverers are mostly classified as independent contractors, meaning they lack the protections that come with traditional jobs. Most workers spend 12-hour days making deliveries for less than minimum wage.
In recent months, there has been a variety of pushes from the city to gain more perks for them. Last year, the City Council ensured delivery workers get bathroom access at restaurants.
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has proposed a $23.82 per hour minimum wage for delivery workers, and is expected to make a decision later this month.
As app-based food delivery boomed during the pandemic, so too did fires ignited by e-bike batteries, raising concern across the city about fire safety. At the Brake Room, e-bikes are allowed inside, but can’t be charged.
The city has struggled to keep pace. In October, Mayor Adams and Sen. Schumer announced a program to place three “street hubs” for delivery workers to rest and recharge around the city — but the rollout has been bumpy.
A planned hub in the Bronx fell through last month after the Daily News reported the hub would kick out a popular newsstand business.
Another hub on the Upper West Side is facing strong resistance from residents who say adding e-bikes to the busy area at Broadway and W. 72nd St. will create a traffic hazard.