What can NYC learn from Hoboken’s e-scooter program?

What can NYC learn from Hoboken’s e-scooter program?

Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Plus, is Essex Crossing the “anti-Hudson Yards?” And more intel in today’s New York Minute news roundup

Good morning, and welcome to New York Minute, a new roundup of the New York City news you need to know about today. Send stories you think should be included to tips@curbed.com.

A micromobility case study in New Jersey

E-scooters appeared to be stymied in New York for now—legislation that made them legal passed the New York State Senate earlier this year, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo has yet to sign it into law—but the New York Times took a look at how Hoboken’s deal with scooter-sharing company Lime could be instructive for the five boroughs. (Well, four; the legislation that passed stipulated that scooter shares can’t operate in Manhattan.)

What the paper of record found: Hoboken’s e-scooters are wildly popular—there are often lines to snag one, especially after weekday commutes—but not everyone is abiding by the city’s rules for scooters. Police officers have arrested several people for drunk scootering, and some folks have been seen riding on sidewalks rather than on city streets and in bike lanes. (They were also recently banned from city parks and a waterfront promenade that hugs the Hudson River.)

So what can New York City learn from this? The scooter roll-out can be rocky, but one transportation expert told the Times that the city is an ideal spot for the two-wheelers, given its density and the number of short trips people would be likely to take. And the scooters in Hoboken “have been firmly embraced,” per the Times, with about 500,000 rides taken since the pilot program launched five months ago.

And in other news…

• Archicritics have opinions this week: New York’s Justin Davidson took a look at two Manhattan buildings—Annabelle Selldorf’s 10 Bond Street, and SHoP’s American Copper Buildings—that buck the glass-and-steel trend, while the Times’s Michael Kimmelman visited Essex Crossing and determined it’s the “anti-Hudson Yards.”
• Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking his sweet old time on a plan to address the massive, overwhelming crowds around Rockefeller Center during the holidays.
• A former bigwig at JDS Development is betting on co-living.
• A Brooklyn Heights property that was once part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses real estate holdings is being transformed into ultra-luxury senior housing.
• An Upper East Side condo is out of money.
• And finally, Canstruction returns to Brookfield Place this week! The annual event challenges architects and engineers to create sculptures out of canned goods, which are donated to City Harvest at the event’s end. Check it out until November 21.

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