Transcript: Mayor Adams, DOT Commissioner Rodriguez Launch LockerNYC to Combat Package Theft and Reduce Delivery Truck Traffic

April 10, 2024

Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, Department of Transportation: Good afternoon, everyone. It is a great honor to be here together with many great people, Assemblymember Jennifer Rajkumar and also a great leader from the private industry that they're doing a great job. Today, Mayor Adams has a big announcement. He's reimagining the use of public space. He's reimagining how we work with freight, and we do delivery in the City of New York. Let me give you the great mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you so much, commissioner. Many of you know that I am blocks from here, down the block on Lafayette Avenue between Lewis and Stuyvesant, and there's a universal concern when our packages are dropped off, they are taken. Well, you got to love New York, man. The whole package is that people lose, you walk out and folks find out that they're stolen over and over again. It's a New York nightmare. 

You're waiting for your package to come in. You're expecting something to be delivered. It could be a birthday gift. It could be a family gift, it could be an item you need and you walk outside and you see it's gone. So often people interact or try to catch people who are stealing their packages only to find that that's one of the worst encounters you could have. Our goal is to solve the problem. That's why we're here today. We're really excited about this smart way to deal with a real ongoing problem. 

Who would have thought all of these years, now that we're looking at how package delivery has been so normalized, everyone gets packages now. Matter of fact, you find that the packages that you're waiting for often are not located where you expect them to be. I want to thank the commissioner, his smart way of using spaces. Since day one, we've been clear on what our mission is, public safety, revitalize our economy, and make the city more livable for everyday New Yorkers. 

Taking on package theft may not seem obvious, many people may say that what is a big deal about it? It is a big deal. It's a huge deal. It impacts the quality of life of New Yorkers, and it's part of our vision of how we deliver, and all the three areas that we are focusing on. At-home deliveries have surged in recent years. When you look at the surge of at-home deliveries, you're also looking at the surge of theft. Almost 90,000 packages being reported stolen or lost every day in this city. 

New Yorkers have had thousands of dollars worth of items taken from their apartments, their lobbies, out front on their porches, and we want to tackle the problem head-on, and we want to send a message to the porch pirates that your days are over and sailing away with our home deliveries. By unwrapping LockerNYC, a pilot program to help combat package theft and reduce delivery truck traffic in our city. 

Win-win, when you think about it. Reducing truck traffic and being able to stop the thefts of packages. We're not just tackling crime, but also tackling climate change with this great announcement. This is what we call a packaged deal. This site here in Brooklyn, a supermarket that I use often, is one of seven initial locations across the city where New Yorkers will be able to receive and send packages using secure lockers on public sidewalks. 

The program is available to all New Yorkers 24/7, and it is the favorite four-letter word of New Yorkers, free. New Yorkers can sign up for free and manage orders@golocker.com/locker-nyc. LockerNYC will also allow carriers to make fewer truck trips, so it's great for our environment, reducing the time delivery trucks are on the road and reducing emission, something that we have been fighting for for years, but we're going to make it happen. 

This is all part of our efforts to reimagine freight delivery in New York City, and one of the more exciting ways we're going to accomplish this task. This includes having and creating a sustainable last-mile delivery system for getting goods where they need to go. This includes new rules that will allow cargo bikes to operate on our streets to make deliveries and the expansion of our Blue and Marine Highway network. We want to use our waterways. The goal is, we can move faster and we can do it in an environmentally friendly way. As well as the creation of the Department of Sustainable Delivery, which we announced in our State of the City address, a first in this nation entity that will regulate new forms of delivery transit and ensure safety. 

We say over and over again, this is how we lean into public safety. This is how we rebuild our economy. This is how we ensure the quality of life of New Yorkers to get their hard-earned goods and save the hundreds of thousands of dollars that outlets are wasting and losing because of theft. We're getting more trucks off the road, reducing congestion on our streets, and curtailing package theft, and learning how to be resilient and do press advisories even with people across the street yelling at you. Let's get stuff done.  

Commissioner Rodriguez: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As the mayor said, LockerNYC is a great initiative because you hope to address several problems. Many New Yorkers have faced the frustration of having their packages stolen at some point. While some building have a doorman or a package room, most working-class New Yorkers don't have those amenities. LockerNYC provides a free alternative that's open to everyone. These lockers provide a safe place for packages to be securely delivered. 

Every New Yorker has also encountered a delivery truck that is double parked, parked on the sidewalk, or that has a near miss with a pedestrian or cyclist. Large delivery trucks can also have negative effect on our environment. Through the LockerNYC, we can cut down in package theft, consolidate truck deliveries, reduce failed deliveries, and improve street safety by reducing the number of trips made by big delivery trucks. 

These lockers are located in well-lit areas with heavy foot traffic. They are equipped with security cameras, and we have been working in coordination with the local NYPD precincts to enhance safety at each location. Reimagining package deliveries has never been more important with a sharp increase in home deliveries that this administration or that Mayor Eric Adams has taken on. 80 percent of households receive at least one delivery per week and 20 percent receive four delivery per week. This is just the latest efforts from New York City DOT, with the support of Mayor Eric Adams, to find new ways to make deliveries cleaner and safer. We are tackling last-mile freight deliveries in a comprehensive way under the Adams administration. 

Just last month we announced new rules, as the mayor said, to allow electric cargo bikes on our street. Instead of three wheel, now they are allowed to have four wheel, the largest, the highest and they have more capacity to bring more boxes. They are only allowed to ride at 50-mile per hour. We will also be launching a micro hub initiative later this year. Delivery trucks will unload at these hubs and packages will be transferred to cargo bikes and other greener and safer forms of transportation to the final destination. 

We also have, as the mayor said, Blue Highway IFP that is exploring how we can better utilize our waterways to move freight that is currently on our streets, and the private sectors are already responding to that RFP. Next month we anticipate beginning a stakeholders' outreach on our truck's route redesign work. We are continuing to transform our curb space with new loading zones and undertaking a smart curve pilots project in the upper westside, where we are taking a fresh look at what the core priority should be if you could start over from scratch. 

We are thinking big about how we can make our streets better and safer, and ensure that New Yorkers actually receive the delivery when they place an order. I want to thank Mayor Adams for his leadership and for the entire team, especially Diniece Mendes. They are the ones behind our freight teams, so thank you for your great job. Now I would like to call on Nigel Thomas, the CEO and founder of LockerNYC, to come and say a few words. 

Nigel Thomas: Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Good job, brother. Good job. 

Nigel Thomas: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Nigel Thomas. I am not the CEO of GoLocker. That title is Mr. Kerry Calyor who recently joined the company, but I am the founder and I'm a New Yorker. I'm from Brooklyn. We're kicking this event off today here in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood that's known for The Notorious B.I.G., Big Daddy Kane, Jay Z. 

Mayor Adams: Eric Adams. 

Nigel Thomas: Eric Adams. Also the mural of the late great Dr. McKeon from the Boys and Girls High School. Today we're going to add a new thing to Bed-Stuy, this will be known as a place where LockerNYC was launched. Technology innovation right from New York City. I would also like to personally thank the folks at the freight management team, Diniece, Stephen, Dr. Charles. Without your leadership and your guidance, this would not have been possible today. We really appreciate that we are standing around a commissioner and a mayor who believes in local businesses and fostering local technology. We are a local company. Once again, we thank you. 

Now you've heard all the stats from the mayor and the commissioner, 90,000 plus packages go missing every day. I have a cousin, she's a New York City correction officer, works on Rikers Island, sometimes she has to work overtime, and then run home to get a package because she's ordering some stuff for her son and may not be able to get it. She gets a picture notification saying that the package was delivered, but when she gets there, if it's not there, that picture notification, that means that now she is not able to get something resent because they claim that she got it. The days of just being able to replenish deliveries, those days are gone. 

The other day while we were prepping for this press release today, there was a young man, Sam, he was talking about his wife's home-based business. Because of where they live in Bed-Stuy, she does not have the ability to have great shipping options. She's asking, "well, what is this locker going to do for her? I said, "Look, ma'am, no matter if you have a package that's going to UPS, FedEx, or what delivery carrier, you put it in this locker and we'll take care of the rest for you." Imagine what that does to small business operators, home-based businesses. 

I know we're speaking about these large conglomerates where people are shopping from, we know the ones with the smiles. We're not going to mention any names. What about our local businesses? What about the folks of Ideal? How do they get new customers into their stores? Gentrification is real, but they have to be part of the solution and they are. That's what the team of GoLocker is solving. 

I'm not going to take too much more time but, this is a great opportunity. I look at this– I was telling my wife this morning, this is a Jeremy Lin situation. We're all New Yorkers, we know Jeremy Lin. Waving off, who was it, Shumpert? And he took that shot. That's this moment for us as a small business. That's what we're facing right now as New York City's vendor of choice for LockerNYC. Ladies, and gentlemen, thank you. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. Appreciate it. 

Commissioner Rodriguez: Before the mayor takes the questions, one minute in español. 

Nuestra comunidad está recibiendo un anuncio donde el Alcalde Eric Adams le está trayendo algo muy necesario, que es la oportunidad de que cuando la persona hace una orden de una caja a través de UPS, FedEx o Amazon, en aquel edificio donde las cajas de buzones no son seguros, ahora en las calles, en los lugares públicos van a haber estos lugares donde las personas van a poder hacer su orden para que los delivery le lleguen seguros, porque muchos edificios no tienen la misma seguridad como tienen aquellos que tienen doorman. Así que es parte del compromiso de Alcalde Eric Adams de que también en la comunidad trabajadora lleguen los mismos servicios como hacer su delivery seguro en sus lugares.  

Translation: Mayor Eric Adams is announcing in our community something that is very necessary, which is the opportunity that when people make an order for a box through UPS, FedEx or Amazon, in buildings where mailboxes are not safe. Now on our streets, in public places, there will be places where people will be able to hav that the delivery will arrive safely, because many buildings do not have the same security as those that have dorms. It is part of the commitment here of Mayor Adams that also in the working community the same services arrive, such as making their delivery safe in their places. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. We want to turn it over, before we answer questions, to our amazing assemblywoman. We're a partner in Albany. I know you have a few packages that were stolen.  

Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar: Thank you. Good afternoon, I'm State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar. Mayor Adams and Commissioner Rodriguez don't just think outside the box but they have put a box on the sidewalk, and I commend them. It is truly amazing that 90,000 New Yorkers report having a package stolen or missing and 2 out 3 New Yorkers since the pandemic have reported having a package stolen. This is a very big issue in my South Queens District. 

There are thieves that come to your porch and just take a package. Even in your building, they come to your building and if you don't have a secure package, your package is gone. I personally experienced this problem, you're right, mayor. I actually ran home for my package because I want[ed] to get there before the thief gets there. Now this has to stop and LockerNYC is an initiative that's going to end this problem for our city. It's going to start with these seven units and then hopefully spread throughout the city and across multiple carriers so I want to thank the Get Stuff Done Administration for getting stuff done.  

Mayor Adams: Thank you, thank you. And happy Eid to all who celebrate. Let’s open it up to a few questions. 

Question: Mr. Mayor [inaudible] free for all New Yorkers but I assume that means you’re going to be…. [inaudible] paying Nigel’s company here. How much are taxpayers paying for this pilot and also, what are the locations? 

Mayor Adams: You got the answers. 

Commissioner Rodriguez: Diniece, if you don't mind. 

Mayor Adams: You should have been up here with us. 

Mendes: Sure. Hi, Mr. Mayor, nice to see you. Good afternoon. There's no cost, it's the no-cost demonstration agreement with GoLocker. We're really testing the utilization of these lockers and how well they'll be used by the public more broadly. 

Question: The locations? 

Mendes: We have about seven locations, this is one of them. We have another near Bedford Avenue I believe. 

Thomas: Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn Avenue. 

Diniece: Correct. 

Thomas: Hell's Kitchen on 9th Avenue and 52nd. We have locations in Sunnyside, Queens. 

Diniece: Correct. 

Thomas: And a few more going in very shortly. 

Mayor Adams: The beauty here is that this is a real problem we hear from New Yorkers all the time and when we have New Yorkers that are willing to come up with solutions to the problem, then you do a pilot. Hopefully, we'll learn from that pilot and then we expand. Yes? 

Question: [Inaudible.] 

Mendes: We are starting off with 15 locations to start with GoLocker. We are announcing the first seven this week and we'll be rolling out more locations in the upcoming months. 

Question: Then how long will the pilot last? 

Mendes: The pilot will last for one year. 

Question: After that point, you might be extending [inaudible]? 

Mendes: We may choose to extend the pilot, but at that point, we'll be doing a full evaluation of the general performance of the program and how well New Yorkers react to using the platform, and then make our decisions after that in terms of extending the pilot or not. 

Question: So GoLocker is thinking of [inaudible]. 

Diniece: Correct. 

Question: No city [inaudible]. 

Diniece: Correct. 

Question: My question is in plans to evaluating how well this network is working, looking at the data-wise, how many people are actually using it, [inaudible] packages. I'm just wondering what decides that this program [inaudible]. 

Commissioner Rodriquez: Again, speed camera started as a pilot project. Red light camera started as a pilot project. A few months ago, we announced another project that The Cooper Union, or the location, we are allowing the delivery trucks to go in and charge their electrical bike battery. So as in any project, what we are looking is to learn what is the demand? What is the quality? 

As we know in the city, there's some places that Amazon have their own indoor spaces where people can get their delivery. Amazon can do it too. UPS can do it too. This is like a one-stop. So it doesn't matter if people order through Amazon, UPS, or FedEx. They can order through this place and in other locations. As any other pilot project, it's about learning about what is the demand in this particular case, what is the quality. Even on safety, we're working with the NYPD to be sure that those locations where the lockers are installed are near locations where there is a high volume of people who walk, there's light around. We're working with the camera, we're working with the safety. At the end, it's going to be an open process. No one is guaranteed. We end a pilot project then we have to open an IFP and let the market to respond. 

Mayor Adams: The beauty is, is that– I'll take this beat 38 when I was a borough president, stop right here, pick up your package, and walk home. This is a great fit, and you can stop right inside Ideal to do your shopping, going to have some of the best customer service that I know. Okay? Yes, we'll do a demo.