The city is ready to launch a three-year “microhub” delivery pilot meant to reduce truck traffic and pollution on local streets, and north Brooklyn will play a key part in the experiment.
Officially approved on Tuesday, the program will establish up to 36 microhubs where truck drivers will park and transfer their goods to smaller, cleaner vehicles, like cargo bikes and electric vans, to complete their deliveries.
With the pilot, the Department of Transportation aims to improve street safety and help streamline traffic in a city that gets 90% of its freight deliveries by truck. Large trucks often bring traffic and air pollution to residential neighborhoods, especially when they’re used for “last-mile” deliveries.
“Well-placed ‘microhubs,’ or drop-off points, allow trucks to avoid traveling further into neighborhoods and commercial corridors, where less intrusive options like cargo bikes can pick them up and take them to their final destination,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, in a statement. “With this important pilot as a first step, our ultimate goal is to make every piece of the package delivery lifecycle greener and less burdensome on our roads and neighborhoods.”

The first five microhubs will be located in upper Manhattan and northern Brooklyn. “Off-street” microhubs will open on city-owned property under Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Clinton Hill and Greenpoint.
Brooklyn’s hubs will offer storage space for vehicles and goods, vehicle repairs, maintenance, and charging, and loading space for the transfer between large trucks and smaller delivery vehicles, officials said. They will be managed by the city and its designated company partners, who have not yet been named.
The program’s price tag was not announced, but delivery companies will have to apply and pay for an annual permit. Participating companies will be responsible for maintaining and cleaning the hubs, and will work with DOT to determine how effective the pilot is, officials said.
“New Yorkers are receiving more deliveries than ever before, and microhub zones will make them greener and safer by reducing the number of big trucks navigating local streets,” said DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “Big delivery trucks not only present safety risks on busy city streets but too often they block the flow of traffic on our roads and pedestrians on our sidewalks.”

The microhub pilot program, which the DOT said was designed based on feedback from a public comment period and community outreach efforts in 2024, is part of the agency’s “Curb Management Action Plan,” the DOT’s efforts to“reimagine freight delivery” in the city. Roughly 80% of all deliveries in the city are being made directly to residential consumers, the agency said in September, and most of those deliveries are made with trucks.
Residents of neighborhoods like Red Hook, which has experienced a boom in last-mile delivery warehouses, say their streets are overwhelmed with truck traffic and fumes. Large trucks rumbling by every day present environmental and public safety risks, locals have said, and should be regulated.
Microhubs aren’t the only way the city is working to reduce truck traffic and ease deliveries in the city. Most recently, the DOT expanded LockerNYC to combat package thefts around the city. The program’s centerpiece features free public delivery lockers located on public sidewalks and other locations.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site amNewYork.
— Additional reporting by Kirstyn Brendlen