Can These Simple Cargo-Hauling Bikes Save Our Cities?

How a scrappy collective of anti-capitalists and anarchists is changing the way New York gets deliveries—and possibly breaking our addiction to cars along the way.

Photos by Daniel Krieger

Throughout May, National Bike Month, our People of Interest series is spotlighting New York cyclists who are breaking the mold and making a difference on two wheels.

On a spring morning in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, Joe Sharkey fastens a Dean & DeLuca box to the bed of his cargo bike. Amid the commotion of all the diesel-spewing trucks and vans loading and unloading shipments on this industrial strip, Sharkey’s orange cargo bike stands out – tiny, silent, and completely carbon-neutral.

Today, he’s delivering catering for Dean & DeLuca, the gourmet grocery chain, on behalf of Doordash, an on-demand food delivery app. But Sharkey, an avowed anti-capitalist with an easy smile and a radio-ready voice, sees his part in this mission as much more important than the portobello sandwiches and artisan cheese platters currently filling his cargo bed.