This 5-mile bike tour, hosted by Newtown Creek Alliance and the Last Mile Coalition, will explore the expanding infrastructure of commodity circulation, and the real-world footprint of e-commerce, around the Creekside neighborhood of Maspeth. This present condition comes in the context of 200+ years of Newtown Creek transportation logistics, from horse-carts and barges to rails and trucks.
The rise of e-commerce has seen a rapid increase in last-mile developments in the industrial business zones, like those surrounding Newtown Creek. These mega facilities bring significant amounts of increased truck traffic to overburdened communities leading to higher levels of congestion, worsened air quality, urban heat island impacts, stormwater runoff, as well as ongoing issues with worker protections, fair wagers, and labor rights. NYC is now working to implement a special permit process to curtail the proliferation of last mile facilities, thanks in large part to the advocacy from elected leaders and the Last Mile Coalition (of which NCA is a member).