Report: 75% of NYC warehouses are in 'disadvantaged communities'

A report from the Environmental Defense Fund reveals that the proliferation of warehouses and delivery services in New York City are having the most significant air pollution impacts on the lowest-income neighborhoods.

As Casey Wetherbee explains in City Limits, "In New York City, low-income populations are 1.2 times more likely to live within half a mile of a warehouse, and 75 percent of warehouses are located within “disadvantaged communities“—census tracts that are already disproportionately burdened by climate change, as defined in state law."

While two proposed state laws that would regulate delivery companies and mitigate pollution did not advance during the last legislative session, New York City's Department of Transportation launched a Microhubs pilot program that encourages last-mile deliveries using cargo bikes or other small, sustainable mobility devices. "DOT estimates that the pilot program replaced more than 3,000 truck trips in a year, reducing approximately nine grams of pollutants from the air."