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Nosy Neighbor: Are the idling trucks on White legal?
E. wrote to ask: There is 24/7 noise coming from idling trucks and refrigerator motors from a parking lot on the northwest corner of White Street and 6th Avenue. The noise from the refrigerator motors and vibration and fumes are maddening. They then transfer the goods to a slew of idling smaller trucks and delivery carts, again, every day of the week, no regulated hours, all night.
Residents have called 311 and CB1 hundreds of times, by their own account, and have made request for the city to check air and noise readings, but they say, it is so far all ignored because the city says it is backlogged. (The pics below are mine from the winter, when I emailed Fresh Direct to complain about them blocking the sidewalk. No response.)
“People are having a hard time living at home, working at home and those sleeping near front windows are besides themselves. Plus the fumes. The quality of life on the entire block has been made a nightmare by this, including the new businesses on the block, ie the galleries and restaurants, stores that have recently moved to White Street. This has been ongoing for three months+.”
Community Board 1 staff said that the use is permitted: it is a commercially zoned lot with a permitted parking operation. Also, if the trucks are idling to operate a lift or a fridge or any commercial element of the truck, then they are exempt from the three-minute idling rules while they are operating those elements. So in other words, they can idle.
CB1’s expert eyes noted that one of the electric vehicles on the lot is an EV company called Circuit that does the last-mile delivery for Fresh Direct. A call to that company *could* demand that they use an electric box truck for perishable goods as well.
There is one last option *if* some of the idling trucks are not equipped for refrigeration: CB1 said neighbors may actually conduct enforcement themselves using the city’s Idling Complaint System that is part of the DEP’s Citizen Air Complaint Program. Citizens can file a complaint online by uploading video AND even collect a bounty if the complaint is found to be valid from the NYC Environmental Control Board, called OATH.
The process is all explained here.
This of course places the burden on the victim, but desperate times…
14 Comments
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Trucks idling in on street parking spaces on West Broadway between Franklin and Leonard pose a similar problem. I do not understand why Fresh Direct (and Amazon on Warren by Whole Foods) can legally occupy these paces 24/7. Do they pay the City?
Those two places are a constant with those trucks.
This situation sounds hellish to nonstop endure.
I COMPLETELY agree.
The situation is awful and must be stopped, it can’t possibly be legal. The trucks are idling all night, sometimes parked on the sidewalk. The police and 311, do absolutely nothing. It’s hard to have a conversation on White street with this going on. The pollution alone is disgusting.
Our quality of life on White street has been greatly diminished.
We need help!
People in the neighborhood want to order on line and have things like groceries deliver to their doors. I am at a loss for what you would want these companies to do, they have to truck the goods in and then work from a centralized location to make local deliveries. They are now paying to use this lot.
People also seem to forget that this is/was and industrial area. Like moving to the Meatpacking District and complaining about the smell of meat. I’m sure it’s annoying, but what did you expect to happen in a loading/zone parking lot?
Thankfully the companies themselves have a modicum of empathy and the transition to EVs is a tacit acknowledgment of the nuisance that this is. Alternatively I can ask them to move their base of operations under your window if you’re agreeable.
On Warren St, Whole Foods has switched over to bicycle carts, and while some neighbors have objected to the “corral” where the carts are parked, I think this is much better than the trucks and vans that used to idle there and constantly beep when backing up (which seemed to be almost all the time). Of course these carts only make sense for local deliveries and would not work for a central depot sort of thing.
I live one block away from White/6th Ave. Our quality of live has been greatly altered since Covid. Amazon delivery trucks had multiplied as they now are also in the food business. Sidewalks have become the sorting station every afternoon. The proliferation of roof gardens and outdoor space between buildings also encouraged unbridled late night reveling during lock-down and beyond. Then came the out of control outdoor dining which can be quite noisy as well. Police rarely responded to any complaints.
Isn’t there a building slotted to be built on this lot? Does anyone know the status of this?
No approvals on the NB. Only recent approvals for electrical work and a cut curb.
NYC Department of Buildings
Document Overview
Page: 1 of 1
Premises: 5 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS MANHATTAN Job No: 121190059
BIN: 1090940 Block: 191 Lot: 8 Num. of Documents: 1 Job Type: NB – NEW BUILDING
DOC NO WORK TYPE(S) / STATUS / JOB DESCRIPTION
01 PROPOSE TO ERECT A NEW RESIDENTIAL BUILDING AS SHOWN ON DRAWINGS FILED HEREWITH.
Status: J – PLAN EXAM – DISAPPROVED Status Date: 01/04/2016
Plans Page Count: Not Provided
Directive 14: N Applicant Name: ROGROVE JORDAN Pre-Filing Date: 10/21/2015
TYPE STATUS DATE STATUS
CC – CURB CUT 01/04/2016 J: PLAN EXAM – DISAPPROVED
EQ – CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT 01/04/2016 J: PLAN EXAM – DISAPPROVED
NB – NEW BUILDING 01/04/2016 J: PLAN EXAM – DISAPPROVED
OT – NEW BLDG 01/04/2016 J: PLAN EXAM – DISAPPROVED
NYC Department of Buildings
Zoning Documents
No Scanned Zoning Documents Found For This JOB
A group received landmarks approval to build a condo 3 or 4 years ago, but never moved forward. Maybe they were unable to line up financing.
Here is an old article about the development that was planned for the lot on White:
https://newyorkyimby.com/2018/06/updated-renderings-for-14-white-street-revealed-in-tribeca.html