Big E-Commerce Keeps On Truckin' In Red Hook, Ban Unlikely: DOT

RED HOOK, NY — A demanded halt on e-commerce facilities pumping trucks and smog into the streets of Red Hook streets isn't likely after city officials ruled there wasn't law to back it.

In a response letter sent last week to concerned members of Community Board 6, transit officials offered other consolations to locals' concerns about traffic congestion and poor air quality — like traffic studies and sustainable vehicle alternatives.

"[We] believe we lack a legal platform for imposing the moratorium that you have proposed," Transportation and Planning department officials wrote.

Officials offered alternative solutions like a cargo bike program to encourage last-mile delivery by low- or no-emission vehicles. The city will also support businesses' use of water freight options in lieu of trucks, officials said.

The Transportation in March launched a study on Red Hook's traffic patterns that focuses on the impact on a huge number of warehouses and distribution centers.

Red Hook has become a "major transfer hub for deliveries," and particularly for Amazon, which has opened two facilities in just two years in Red Hook with plans to open a third, according to a recent report by Consumer Reports and the Guardian.

The neighborhood is also home to a UPS distribution center and PANYNJ container port, according to the Transportation department.

"We are committed to working diligently to support a multi-pronged solution that balances Red Hook community needs while supporting the City's economic competitiveness," officials wrote.

Community Board 6 District Manager Michael Racioppo said the response was appreciated, but swift action is urgently needed.

The Consumer Report study that found that on just one street in Red Hook, over 60 trucks and vans pass per hour between 10 a.m. and noon on an average weekday. Many of these are clearly marked as Amazon vehicles, according to the study.

"We appreciate that the administration is taking this seriously, but the problem, as the Consumer Reports study showed, has only gotten worse," Racioppo said.

And the letter in May was just the most recent of a years-long effort to mitigate local harms related to delivery of online purchases.

"Red Hook is among the city neighborhoods most burdened by last-mile facilities, and dealing with the challenges they post requires a coordinated multi-agency approach," Racioppo said.

"It’s unconscionable that this environmental justice community should bear the brunt of other Brooklynites’ predilection for quick home delivery of online purchases," Racioppo and Community Board 6 Chairperson Eric McClure said in their May letter.