The city is installing public delivery lockers on sidewalks in several boroughs as part of a free pilot program aimed at reducing package theft, officials said Wednesday.
The new “LockerNYC” program will include seven lockers, each of which can hold 25 packages at a time, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a news release.
The officials said they hope the lockers will make up for a lack of secure areas for deliveries in many city buildings, as 80% of New York City households receive at least one delivery per week.
"Almost 90,000 packages [are] 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,” Adams said at a news briefing. “And we want to send a message to the porch pirates that your days are over."
Residents on Lafayette Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant said they have horror stories of their packages getting stolen.
"Myself and our neighbors have our packages stolen on a pretty regular basis," Pawel Piekarski said.
"I got my package stolen around Christmastime. When you’re expecting to give gifts to family, it’s not the best feeling,” Shanique Smith said.
New Yorkers will be able to sign up for the program for free and manage orders online, the release said.
Five of the seven lockers can be found at the following locations:
• Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn: 830 Lafayette Ave., outside Ideal Food Basket grocery store
• Canarsie, Brooklyn: 1380 Rockaway Parkway
• East Flatbush, Brooklyn: 1086 Brooklyn Ave., outside Ideal Food Basket grocery store
• Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn: 2036 Bedford Ave., outside Ideal Food Basket grocery store
• Sunnyside, Queens: 47-01 49th St., outside the Cosmopolitan Houses apartments
The other two lockers will soon be installed at the following sites:
• Bushwick, Brooklyn: 72-80 Wyckoff Ave., outside Key Food
• Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan: 778 9th Ave. at West 52nd Street
The pilot program will run for a year, and could be extended after that if it is successful, according to the release.