On May 2, 2026, Newtown Creek Alliance was thrilled to join organizations across the City in celebrating this year’s Jane Jacobs’ Weekend. NCA led the tour “Creekside Cargo: Walking the Last Mile” in Maspeth. NCA offered participants an on-the-ground exploration of the intertwined histories of industry, infrastructure, environmental justice, and ecological restoration along Newtown Creek. We kicked things off at the historic Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, where participants were introduced to NCA’s mission to restore, revitalize, and reveal one of the nation’s most polluted waterways. The opening discussion connected Jane Jacobs’ enduring legacy of community-centered urbanism to contemporary advocacy around “last-mile” trucking infrastructure, warehouse expansion, and environmental health. NCA staff also shared the Last Mile Coalition’s support for the Clean Deliveries Act and a proposed Zoning Text Amendment that would limit the concentration of large e-commerce warehouses near schools, public housing, and other sensitive sites.
As the tour wound through Maspeth’s industrial corridor, participants got a close look at how transportation infrastructure and freight activity shape the surrounding environment and public health. Stops at the aging Grand Street Bridge highlighted the strain placed on outdated infrastructure by increasing truck and bus traffic, while also drawing attention to the ways runoff, air pollution, and habitat fragmentation impact local flora and fauna along the creek. Outside the DBK4 Amazon facility, the group dug into the explosive growth of e-commerce logistics and what it means for nearby residents, especially the neighboring P.S. 9 school community (pictured above).
Tour leaders walked participants through the dramatic rise in truck trips generated by modern warehouses, the troubling pattern of siting these facilities in disadvantaged communities, and alarming localized nitrogen dioxide readings uncovered by the Queens Community Air Quality Monitoring project. Stops near FedEx Ground and the Maspeth Creek street ends showed both the sheer scale of industrial development along the waterfront and some genuinely exciting possibilities for more sustainable freight, including potential creek-based transportation alternatives. The group also took note of a public sidewalk destroyed by the City to make way for a privatized driveway serving the FedEx Ground facility.
The walk wrapped up at the Plank Road Public Shoreline, where participants got to see NCA’s ecological restoration work up close. What was once a neglected, overgrown waterfront edge has been transformed over the past decade into a pocket park with pollinator pathways, bioswales, tidepools, and beautiful native plantings like milkweed, prickly pear, and purple lovegrass. Participants pulled out binoculars to spot birdlife and identify species while learning how these restoration strategies strengthen stormwater management, biodiversity, and climate resilience. The closing discussion brought it all back to policy: zoning reform and proposed city and state Indirect Source Rules as concrete tools toward a healthier, more equitable city. The tour was a reminder that community-led stewardship and advocacy are at the heart of addressing the environmental toll of last-mile logistics.
