LOCAL NEWS
Fast and furious
Menin calls on GoPuff delivery service to
halt hazardous business practices
BY AIDAN SEIDEN
Following an outpour of
complaints from Councilmember
Julie Menin’s
Upper East Side constituents
regarding the dangers that the
GoPuff’s delivery service drivers
are posing on their community,
Menin took action on Feb.
22 directly addressing the CEO
and founders of the company
to express her concerns and demand
action.
The grievances all stem from
GoPuff’s micro-fulfi llment center
on 1356 Lexington Avenue,
where drivers are dispatched
and at your door in as little as
“15-20 minutes,” according to
their website. While this guarantee
is convenient for customers,
it poses a serious threat to
nearby pedestrians, as reports
of delivery service workers on
motorized scooters or bicycles
driving down sidewalks at
dangerous speeds or in the opposite
direction of traffi c have
increased in recent months.
“It is absolutely unacceptable
that GoPuff is prioritizing
delivery times over pedestrian
and delivery workers’ safety,”
said Menin. “As a former Commissioner
of the Department of
Consumer and Worker Protection,
this company is engaging
in false and misleading claims
that are causing potential safety
hazards and violating our consumer
protection laws.”
Menin witnessed these hazards
fi rst hand recently, when
she was on a walk with her
three-year-old daughter and
one of the delivery cyclists, riding
in the wrong direction in
the bike lane, almost struck her
daughter.
GoPuff’s slogan, “daily essentials
delivered in minutes,”
has heavily contributed to
these unsafe conditions, Menin
believes, as the unachievable
pledge of delivering goods in
the very limited time frame,
leaves delivery drivers to adopt
“grave traffi c risks” to meet
these guarantees.
The delivery service was
launched in 2013 by Co-founders
and CEOs, Rafael Ilishayev
and Yakir Gola, where, with
the help of the stay at home order
during the pandemic forcing
people to buy food online,
GoPuff’s business boomed.
Since then, hundreds of locations
have emerged, with approximately
10,000 employees
delivering to customers in over
1,000 cities in the U.S. and Europe—
with stores in Manhattan,
Brooklyn, Queens and the
Bronx.
In the address to Ilishayev
and Gola, Menin goes on
to mention that the current
threatening conditions may
constitute a public nuisance in
violation of the nuisance law,
which “prohibits conditions
that endanger the public or
public spaces.”
Residents living near the fulfi
llment center have also reported
numerous noise complaints,
due to the delivery workers loitering
outside “at all hours of
the day and night,” and delivery
drivers idling in their vehicles
for long periods of time, trapping
residents’ cars until delivery
drivers fi nally move.
The constant noise presents
not only a nuisance but a serious
environmental hazard for
the neighborhood as well, according
PHOTO: MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE
City Council Member Julie Menin
to Menin, who has
warned GoPuff of her plans
to take these concerns to The
New York City Department
of Environmental Protection
Police (DEP).
This paper reached out to
GoPuff for comment, and is
awaiting a response.
“These different constituent
complaints present a concerning
picture about your
company’s business practices
and their effects on the environment,
on traffi c safety, and
more generally on the quality
of life in the neighborhood,”
Menin stated.
Huge condo overlooks Central Park, on market for over $19M
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A huge condo with incredible
views of Central
Park and the New York
City skyline is on the market
with a huge price tag.
Located at 217 West 57th
Street, Apartment 46C
boasts 3,400 square feet and
is situated on the corner of
the 46th floor.
The condo is currently
on the market for an asking
price of $19,850,000, listed
by Wald Real Estate.
The condo contains three
bedrooms and three and a
half bathrooms, with every
room having 10 foot tall
ceilings and floor-to-ceiling
glass panels in every room,
offering unobstructed views
of Central Park as well as
city and river views.
Each bedroom has an
en-suite bathroom, and the
master bedroom suite includes
two huge walk-in
closets, a marble bathroom
and views facing south and
east.
Throughout the rest of
PHOTO COURTESY OF WALDREAL ESTATE
the home, you’ll find a foyer
that leads to the gallery
that opens to a grand salon
that faces Central Park to
the north and the rest of the
city to the east. The salon
features a large sitting room
and a formal dining room.
The gourmet kitchen is
outfitted with top tier appliances
and updated cabinets
and leads to a breakfast
room with huge windows.
If the apartment wasn’t
enough, the building has
tons of amenities, including
indoor and outdoor pools, a
media room/theater, a wine
bar and cigar lounge, a ballroom,
and a private dining
room, all of which are found
in the Central Park Club on
the 100th floor. Plus, the
building features access to a
gym, basketball courts and
so much more.
For more information or
to schedule a showing, visit
waldrealestate.com.
8 February 24, 2022 Schneps Media
/waldrealestate.com
