Back in April I wrote an article about Amazon’s cargo e-bikes. I was inspired to write about the subject because I like the Amazon cargo e-bike aesthetic, although I maintain that they are not bikes on account of the fact that they have four wheels instead of two (calling them eQuad electric bikes does not fully ameliorate the issue). But nomenclature aside, the form-factor is neat. On the evening of June 23, 2025, I happened across a three-wheel take on the cargo bike form courtesy of a local Brooklyn business called Happy Cleaners.
The Happy Cleaners vehicle has one wheel in the front and two in the back, so more of a tricycle (minus the cycle) than a bike. Unlike the Amazon cargo bikes, I do not think it is electric and I did not notice any pedals (I may be wrong on both counts). On account of its three wheels, I will refer to it as a laundry cargo trike. (The QR Code on the side of the trike goes to the Happy Cleaners website).
I encountered the laundry cargo trike just off the corner of 4th Street and Hoyt Streets in Gowanus, Brooklyn. In this second photo, you can see that the side of the building behind the trike has an elaborate jungle paint scheme with a colorful parrot. That building is one of the three Happy Cleaners locations in Brooklyn, this one located at 55 4th Street. I did not take a photograph of the entrance, but Happy Cleaners has us covered on that front (pun intended).
The front view reveals the laundry cargo trike’s front wheel. It looks like the Happy Cleaners mobile has a dent on one side (I suppose it has been a hard-working cargo trike). You can see a Happy Cleaners van behind the trike.
The back of the Happy Cleaners trike advertises the businesses dry cleaning, tailoring, laundry, and wedding gown cleaning services. I like the blue on blue and,as the editor of The New Leaf Journal, I respect that they represented organic dry cleaning with a leaf.
I have never used Happy Cleaning myself, but if I ever have dry cleaning to do (not a common occurrence these days), perhaps I will look into it. But one thing I know for certain is that I like their little laundry cargo trike.
