Why rent a storefront when you can use a street for free?
I see this situation all over the city. Amazon shipping companies are “warehousing” our public space. They put up cones and are permanently setup and conducting business. They use public space for private commercial use.
They’re like a pop-up store in a public parking spot. But unlike a physical store that is in a private building and pays commercial storefront taxes, these trucks don’t pay those retailer taxes. (Each year businesses in lower Manhattan with a physical storefront must pay an expensive surcharge to the city in order to operate.)
I think we need to prohibit trucks from parking long term and doing warehousing operations on our streets. I think this is unfair to retailers with physical storefronts, unfair to tax payers, and unfair to people using public spaces. Otherwise, why can't anyone just cordon off part of the street and run their business?
Amazon is a billion-dollar business. Why is it privatizing our public streets for its own private gain? Why is it not paying for this use? (Yes, this is an Amazon led effort--notice the fellow with the Amazon vest on.)
Please send us pictures when you see delivery trucks “warehousing” a public street. We’ll then share them.