City testing sidewalk lockers for package deliveries as thefts rise
New Yorkers worried about getting their packages stolen can start having them delivered to secure lockboxes instead of their front doors, under a program rolled out by Mayor Adams on Wednesday.
The “LockerNYC” program will start as a pilot, with lockbox units set up at seven locations across Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. The pilot doesn’t include any locations in the Bronx or on Staten Island.
Each unit can hold 25 packages at a time and is equipped with two security cameras, LED lighting and anti-theft mechanisms on the locker compartments. New Yorkers can sign up to use the lockers for deliveries from Amazon and other retailers for free online, Adams said.
Amazon has been allowing customers to have packages shipped to secure lockers instead of their home addresses since about 2011.
“New Yorkers have had a thousands of dollars worth of items taken from their apartments, their lobbies, out front on their porches, and we want to tackle the problem headon,” Adams said during a news conference at one of the new lockbox locations outside the Ideal Food Basket grocery store in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood.
According to City Hall, thousands of packages are reported stolen or lost in transit in the city each day. That’s in part the result of an explosion in package deliveries that began during the pandemic. City Hall data show about 80% of city households receive at least one delivery a week and 20% receive four or more.
The LockerNYC pilot will run for a year and won’t cost city taxpayers any money because GoLocker, a logistics company, will pick up the tab, according to Nigel Thomas, the company’s founder.
After the pilot is up, the city will consider whether to make the program permanent and expand it. At that point, a competitive bidding process would take place to identify a permanent private vendor for the project, the mayor said.