NYers Miffed Over Snarling Traffic Caused by Amazon Delivery Trucks
By: Serach Nissim
New York City streets have always been known for traffic. But Amazon’s oversized trucks and brazen drivers are making matters worse.
As per a recent article in the NY Post, Amazon drivers commandeer entire stretches of Big Apple streets when they double park to make mass deliveries. On a regular busy day of hustle and bustle last week, the Post found at least four Amazon delivery trucks hogging up sections of Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side. The driver of one mammoth sized truck at a “mobile distribution hub” even blatantly excused himself for double and triple parking for several hours while workers hurried to and fro unloading their contents. “The [NYPD] … said it’s OK to double park here,” said driver Shawn Evans. He admitted that he was double parked there for over three hours, with a truck filled with “1,500 … 1,600” items for delivery. Many of the Amazon delivery trucks surround themselves with what appear to be city traffic cones while illegally parked in the middle of the streets. These cones actually belong to Amazon, a few of the delivery men admitted.
“The NYPD does not allow Amazon delivery vehicles to double park or violate any parking regulations,” a department spokesman commented in reply. “If these vehicles are observed in violation, a summons is issued.”
The problem is not isolated just to Columbus Ave. Amazon has so many deliveries that it can’t possibly directly deliver all the packages themselves. Enter the oversized distribution trucks owned by outside delivery companies with their own workers which are contracted by Amazon. The trucks carry thousands of packages, and meet at “anchor” locations around the city, or sidewalks where the packages are dropped off for further distribution. Amazon did not wish to disclose how many anchor locations there are in the Big Apple.
As per the Post, last November, the City Council passed legislation hoping to curb the problem, by introducing loading-only parking spots in key busy neighborhoods. So far the results of the bill have been limited. “It is like Whac-A-Mole,” said Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer, noting that trucks just move to another location after getting a complaint. The lawmaker says she has received over 20 complaints from constituents this year regarding the issue. “It’s an endless challenge,” she added.
Residents and business owners in the Upper West side complain that the truck drivers are rude, unruly and sometimes even violent. “They are yelling and screaming and people are outside and you hear them screaming and cursing. It’s invasive,” said Joe Bolanos, President of West 76th Park Block Association. “These people are kind of just wild people.” Bolanos went one step further, taking a jab at Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos: “You would imagine that the second or third richest man in the world would be able to afford a brick and mortar distribution center instead of invading our community and disrupting it,” said Bolanos.
