Rapidly growing e-commerce and last-mile delivery services have contributed to significant increases in crashes, traffic, workplace injuries and air pollution, according to a report from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.
The report estimates that roughly one-in-three New Yorkers receives packages daily. The negative effects of all these deliveries are concentrated in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods, the report finds.
“We’ve become so accustomed to getting our toilet paper, socks, or butter cookies right away that we’ve stopped thinking about the consequences; but we all pay the price of more traffic crashes, worsening air quality, and worker injuries,” said Lander.
He called the report “a wake-up call” for New York City to adopt regulations for delivery services.
The report attributes the problems to a regulatory situation where warehouses can open without public review, and major corporations use subcontracting models like Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program to evade liability for labor and safety standards.
Some findings from Lander’s report, Fast Shipping. Slow Justice, include:
Traffic Crashes
Traffic crashes: After “last mile” delivery facilities opened, 78% of nearby areas saw more injury-causing crashes, with injuries within a half-mile radius rising by an average of 16%. Truck-related crashes increased by 146%, and truck-injury crashes rose by 137%.
Hotspots: In Maspeth, Queens, crashes near two major FedEx and Amazon warehouses rose by 53% and 48%, respectively. A cluster of four East New York facilities also saw a sharp increase in crashes within a half-mile radius.
Worker Safety
Worker safety: Between 2022 and 2024, 38 of 50 facilities (76%) identified by the New York City Department of City Planning reported injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), totaling more than 2,000 injuries, or an average of 678 per year. Injury rates per 100 employees at last mile facilities are more than triple the national average for all private employers (8.3 vs. 2.4).
Amazon’s subcontractors: Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program in 2023 and 2024 had an injury rate per 100 employees of 9.2 and a Days Away or Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rate of 8.1, exceeding those of the greater last mile and courier industries.
Air Quality & Environmental Justice
Environmental justice: About 68% of last mile warehouses are located in officially designated Environmental Justice Areas, including Red Hook, East New York, Maspeth, and Hunts Point. An estimated 65.8% of residents in these neighborhoods are Black or Latine, compared to 49.2% citywide, and the areas already face higher levels of air pollution.
Warehouse-dense areas: Health Department data show that neighborhoods like Newtown Creek, Red Hook, Sunset Park, and Hunts Point have notably higher air pollution levels, likely tied to truck congestion and industrial activity.
Upon releasing the report, Lander joined elected officials, workers’ rights advocates, street safety advocates, and environmental justice organizers in calling on City Hall to address the growing problem. The report urges the city to create a licensing program to establish essential labor standards, bring liability to facility operators via requiring direct employment, and to curb worker injuries and vehicle crashes.
The report also urges the city to require warehouse operators to reduce harmful truck emissions and prevent further concentration of facilities in overburdened neighborhoods.
“We cannot allow the benefits of e-commerce to come at the expense of limbs, lungs, and lives,” Lander said.
Topics
Workers’ Compensation
Pollution
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