Bill Requires Overnight Deliveries To City-Owned Buildings To Ease Congestion In Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New York City Council has approved a plan to cut traffic congestion during the day by requiring overnight deliveries to city buildings and public facilities.
Officials told CBS2's Natalie Duddridge the main goal is to have city buildings set a good example.
By receiving deliveries at night, it would keep big trucks from blocking traffic and keep the city moving.
WEB EXTRA: Click for a closer look at the bill
"Ninth Avenue, right now, you cannot find parking, it's like you have to double park," truck driver Amadou Dieng told Duddridge, saying he supports the bill.
The law mandate that city facilities, like big office buildings or courthouses, below 60th Street in Manhattan create a plan to accept deliveries only between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., when trucks won't block travel lanes.
"At night, it's easier. Yeah, it's easier to do it at night," another truck driver said.
"I remember being a toy store manage in my previous life. We would schedule deliveries at 3 a.m. We wanted to be off the street when the community was getting up to go to work," said councilman Costas Constantinides, who proposed the bill. "We can't be blocking streets during key business hours."
There is already a city program that gives all businesses incentives to receive goods at night, but it's not mandatory.
"Usually the problem we've got - they've got no one to receive it," said Dieng.
"We could never take deliveries past 6 p.m. I'm here sometimes after hours and whatnot, but for me to employ another staff member to help me take down a pallet or whatever it is, it's not possible," said Stephen Baknin, who owns Cosmic Fischer Locksmith.
What is possible, the city says, is for large businesses to follow its lead and voluntarily shift to off-peak delivery, for now.
"I think it would make the city a lot safer for cyclists and reduce congestion for vehicles," on cyclist told Duddridge.
"Deliveries are really important for all of us living here. So long as they can safely, successfully deliver within those 12 hours, that sounds great," one Hell's Kitchen resident said.
Mandatory evening and overnight deliveries to city buildings will start below Canal Street then expand up to 60th in Manhattan, and eventually other boroughs.
The city says it will look at each building and if next door neighbors will be disturbed, those locations will be exempt.
