Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a new city initiative on Wednesday, April 10th, to install secure parcel storage lockers across New York City, aiming to address the rampant issue of package theft.
Dubbed LockerNYC, the program will feature lockers in seven initial locations, providing a secure spot for residents to receive their deliveries.
“We want to send a message to the porch pirates that your days are over of sailing away with our packages,” Mayor Adams stated at a press conference held at the Ideal Food Basket in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The city reported that an alarming rate of 90,000 packages are stolen daily.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to ensure safety and security for all New Yorkers’ deliveries.
Each locker can accommodate 25 packages simultaneously and can accept deliveries from various carriers.
Presently, seven lockers are positioned across the city, with additional installations in progress.
The lockers are situated in accessible locations such as grocery stores and residential complexes in various neighborhoods, including several in Brooklyn and one in Queens.
Additional locations are set to open in Bushwick and Hell’s Kitchen, expanding the reach of this service.
These lockers, standing six and a half feet tall, boast eco-friendly designs. Package delivery giants like UPS and DHL have authorization to deposit and retrieve packages from the lockers at any time to combat crime.
Besides enhancing security, the Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez highlighted the environmental and safety benefits of the initiative.
He pointed out that centralized delivery locations would reduce the number of delivery truck trips, leading to less idling and double-parking, which benefits pedestrians and cyclists.
“By having one central location in a neighborhood, delivery trucks will make fewer trips,” Rodriguez explained, linking the program to broader urban sustainability and safety efforts.
