A Brooklyn lawmaker is proposing a bill that would add on a surcharge for all online deliveries within the five boroughs.
Sen. Andrew Gounardes's bill proposal would add a 25 cent fee per any package delivered to a New York City address. The surcharge would be applied automatically regardless of where the package is ordered from.
The senator says that since the pandemic, there has been a rapid growth of online orders, adding that this proposal could help fund infrastructure costs.
"Those packages are being delivered on trucks are coming in on big freight trucks into the distribution centers," said Gounardes. "Our most crowded neighborhoods are coming in and they’re standing across the city, blocking our streets, impacting our highways, tearing up our roadways and we’re paying the consequences for our addiction to online shopping."
The bill would only impact the city, not the state of New York. The senator says he wants to focus on the five boroughs because of the impact deliveries are having on city highways.