Models may have worked the runways during New York Fashion Week, but couriers did the legwork.
The bike messengers dashing around NYC, delivering designer duds to star-studded shows and photo shoots, said the city’s biannual celebration of style, held earlier this month, is their busiest yet most profitable season — and they make up to five times as much.
Victor “VR” Ramirez, 30, a native New Yorker who works for Mess Kollective, told The Post that he and his fellow pro-rollers find themselves rolling in the most dough during NYFW, which generates a reported $900 million in revenue for the Big Apple.
“Fashion Week’s the greatest time of year for us,” said Ramirez, of Bushwick. He typically transports togs for top fashion houses, such as Stella McCartney, during the bash, making drop-offs at “scary fast” speeds from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. But the pay is worth the pain.
“You can easily make $500 a day,” raved the millennial.
On off-peak seasons, delivery cyclists earn around $100 each day — and, for most of the workhorses, that doesn’t include tips.
“People think it’s an easy job,” said Ramirez. “But it’s not.”
“We’re carrying expensive things to fancy buildings, businesses, models, studios and we have to make sure everything gets there,” he added. “But I love knowing that I’m helping big brands and designers by making things easier for them.”
However, pedaling parcels around Gotham, be they glamorous new looks or mail sent between moguls, is no walk in the park.
Come high-water floods or hellish heat waves, guys and gals on the grind can ride up to 100 miles a day, schlepping goods across busy bridges and through dangerous Midtown traffic.
Still, the job comes with a thrill that Kevin Bolger can’t seem to shake.
“I love being a part of the city, riding my bicycle, and getting important packages to their destinations as quickly as possible,” Bolger, 52, a Bed-Stuy resident who was born in Queens, tells The Post. “As a bike messenger, you become an integral part of big business.”
For Bolger, co-owner of bike delivery service Cyclehawk, carting cargo to and fro since 1992 hasn’t just helped out the city — it’s also helped him drop 30 extra pounds.
“I became a bike messenger at 21 and I was a bit self-conscious about my physique,” said Bolger, who can ride over 50 miles per day through the boroughs during busy shifts. When he’s not sweating it out on his single-speed fixed gear, the dad of two teens serves NYC as a Department of Sanitation worker.
“My bike’s helped me take care of my health and make money,” said Bolger. “I love it.”
But there are times the oft-overlooked, unacknowledged workers feel they’re not given due respect for the good they do — for both Gotham’s citizens and its environment.
A staggering 90% of NYC’s goods are moved into and around the city by huge, gas-guzzling trucks, per the Department of Transportation. But recent studies have found that sustainable delivery methods, such as utilizing bike couriers, can thwart toxic air pollution and reduce roadway congestion issues.
Alex Marte, a Brooklyn-based bike messenger since 2018, is proud of his high-speed hustle for its many benefits.
And now that the lights of NYFW 2024 have dimmed, bringing an end to his deliveries for the luxe likes of Louis Vuitton, the veteran rider is gearing up for NYC’s next major moneymaking events — Black Friday and Christmas.
“The holidays can be even more intense [and lucrative] than Fashion Week,” said Marte, 30, a dog dad to 11 Yorkshire Terriers. “Sometimes, I have so many packages and boxes that I have to put things in my backpack, and it gets so heavy on my back and shoulders.”
In winters past, he’s steered his cargo bike over the Queensborough, Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges — sometimes back and forth four times in a row, totaling 97 miles — with snow inching up past his knees on 12-hour shifts.
An average day in the life of a NYC bike messenger
- 7:00 a.m. — Wake up, shower, eat breakfast (either homemade fare or food truck grub)
- 8:30 a.m. — Bike to the city
- 9:00 a.m. — Check-in at work online, claim first delivery of the day
- 9:30 a.m. — Pick up packages in Midtown to drop off around Soho by 10:00 a.m.
- 10:00 a.m. — Pick up downtown “rush” jobs to deliver uptown
- 10:45 a.m. — Emergency pickup from East 81 Street to East 20th Street
- 11:00 a.m. — Claim a “three-hour” job from Long Island City to Ozone Park, ride to Queens
- 2:00 p.m. — Ride back into Midtown, stop for a quick slice of pizza or another eat-on-the-go lunch food
- 2:30 p.m. — Quick pickups and drop-offs around Midtown
- 4:30 p.m. — Emergency “end-of-day” deliveries for executive clientele during rush-hour traffic
- 6:00 p.m. — Sign off from work, ride bike back home to Brooklyn
But for the handsome pay, and his undying devotion to the metropolis, Marte, who moved to the Big Apple a decade ago, happily gets the job done.
“I get paid to do what I love.” he gushed. “But it’s hard work that only a few people in the city are skilled enough to do.”
“And we should be a little more appreciated.”
