Int. No. 1050
By Council Member Morano
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to traffic congestion near freight terminals
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Title 19 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 19-170.4 to read as follows:
§ 19-170.4 Freight impact zones. a. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Freight impact zone. The term “freight impact zone” means an area of a street designated by the commissioner to address traffic congestion and other disruptions on such street resulting from the queueing of trucks waiting to enter a freight terminal.
Freight terminal. The term “freight terminal” means any property or building in which freight is brought by carriers operating on land, sea, or air for the receipt, handling, delivery, storage, loading, or unloading of freight for interstate or intrastate shipment by truck. Freight terminals include but are not limited to ports, rail yards, airports, warehouses, and distribution facilities.
Freight terminal operator. The term “freight terminal operator” means a person who operates, manages, and maintains a freight terminal.
b. The commissioner shall designate, by rule, one or more freight impact zones where action is necessary to reduce congestion and other disruptions caused by the queueing of trucks waiting to enter a freight terminal. In designating a freight impact zone, the commissioner shall consider all of the following criteria:
1. The location of the portion of a street leading to and from a freight terminal, and such portion’s proximity to residential properties and businesses that may face adverse effects from the queueing of trucks on that street.
2. The number and nature of complaints, reporting, or 311 requests for service regarding vehicle idling, congestion, the blocking of a curb cut, a driveway, an entrance or exit to a business or residential property, an emergency access point, or a lane meant for the flow of non-truck traffic, or other disruptions caused by the queueing of trucks on city streets to enter or after exiting a freight terminal.
3. The frequency and nature of such documented truck queues in a particular location.
c. A council member or community board may submit a request to the commissioner to designate a freight impact zone in their district.
1. No later than 30 days after receipt of such a request, the commissioner shall investigate the requested area and consider the criteria set forth in subdivision b of this section.
2. Not more than 24 hours following the decision to designate or not designate a freight impact zone in the requested area, the commissioner shall submit a written report to the requesting council member or community board of the findings of the investigation and the reasons for the decision to designate or not designate.
d. In each designated freight impact zone the commissioner shall, in coordination with the police department and other relevant agencies, take actions necessary to reduce congestion and other disruptions caused by the queueing of trucks, including but not limited to establishing specialized lanes that prohibit truck staging and idling, deploying traffic control personnel, and authorizing the immediate towing of any truck in a freight impact zone that blocks a curb cut, a driveway, an entrance or exit to a business or residential property, an emergency access point, or a lane meant for the flow of non-truck traffic.
e. Each freight terminal operator who operates a freight terminal that is under the jurisdiction of the commissioner and that borders a freight impact zone shall create a queue management plan to submit to the commissioner by January 1 of each year. The commissioner shall designate by rule the information that must be included in a queue management plan, including plans for a terminal’s staging capacity, timed appointment systems, public display of terminal status and temporary restrictions, and contingency plans to be activated when queues of trucks are waiting to enter a freight terminal.
f. Annually by July 1, the commissioner shall submit to the speaker of the council and the mayor, and make publicly available online, a report that shall include:
1. A list of all freight impact zones and the location of each zone;
2. Details of all efforts taken to prevent truck congestion in each freight impact zone including the number of towed trucks and summonses issued;
3. The number of freight management plans received by the department; and
4. The number of reported instances, including though 311 requests, of vehicle idling, congestion, or other disruptions caused by the queueing of trucks in each zone, and the duration of each instance.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 180 days after it becomes law.
CMB
LS #20321
9/1/2026 12:01 PM