Giant trucks causing chaos on narrow streets of Brooklyn Heights

'These streets aren’t built for trucks like this'

September 19, 2024 Mary Frost

A 53-ft. delivery truck has been illegally blocking Montague and Hicks streets in Brooklyn Heights, causing chaos. Here it is at the western end of Montague. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A behemoth, 53-ft. delivery truck has been unleashing chaos on the streets of Brooklyn Heights for more than a year, and residents near Montague Street, the neighborhood’s main shopping strip, are bursting with frustration at the city’s seeming inability to solve the problem.

“My family has lived in this apartment for 50 years,” said Sue, who lives at the intersection of Hicks and Montague. (She doesn’t want her full name used.) “We’ve never experienced anything like this.”

A “humongous” truck from UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.) has replaced smaller trucks used by a previous vendor delivering groceries to the Montague Street Key Food several times a week, usually in the early morning hours. The truck-only loading zone in front of the grocery store doesn’t go live until 6 a.m. — so UNFI’s drivers often pull onto the middle of Hicks Street or Montague Street, where they set out cones, take over the street and completely block traffic for hours while they unload as many as 50 pallets.

A neighbor sent in a photo of the huge truck jackknifed at the intersection of Montague and Hicks streets. Photo courtesy of a Brooklyn Heights resident

Besides waking neighbors with the “banging and beeping” truck lift, often starting around 5:15 a.m., the truck blocks school buses, ambulances and other vehicles. “No one can turn onto Hicks Street,” Sue said. “A fire truck would have to go three blocks to get around it.”

The truck also gets stuck on a regular basis while trying to make tight turns. Neighbors have sent videos and photos to this paper, showing it hitting and damaging parked cars as it turns from Montague onto Hicks.

“I called 311 and he said submit videos and pictures. I uploaded them and within ten minutes got an email back saying the case was closed. So I did it again. Several minutes later, they sent back another email saying the incident had been dealt with,” Sue said.

This firetruck had to detour around the over-sized delivery truck, which was wedged at the corner of Hicks and Pierrepont streets after it sideswiped a UPS truck. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

BHA: ‘It’s a safety issue’

“Our office has been besieged by complaints about the problems caused by these 53-ft. trucks, which in my understanding are not legally permitted on our streets and have no business being there,” Brooklyn Heights Executive Director Lara Birnback said to the Brooklyn Eagle.

“This is not ‘just’ a quality of life issue, but one of safety as well,” Birnback said. “The BHA has raised this issue numerous times with all of the involved stakeholders and unfortunately, the issue continues to frustrate. I hope that greater awareness of this issue will result in a more satisfactory resolution going forward.”

Councilmember Lincoln Restler worked with Key Food and DOT to change the hours of the truck loading zone, but it hasn’t helped as much as hoped. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

New loading zone hours not doing the trick

Councilmember Lincoln Restler told the Eagle in April that 53-ft. delivery trucks are illegal on the neighborhood’s small streets, and he had asked the store’s owners to discontinue their use.

Restler’s team worked with the city’s Department of Transportation and the store to modify the signage in front of the Bossert to facilitate early morning truck deliveries, Restler said. “We have also had NYPD 84th Precinct cops stationed for early mornings to ticket illegally parked trucks and will continue to advocate for this until the situation is addressed.”

The 6 a.m. loading zone is often derailed, however, when other vehicles are already parked there. Rather than wait for a legal space, the UNFI drivers take over the street instead.

Key Food owners at wit’s ends

Key Food’s co-owners Enrico Palazio and Ivan Arguello say they have been trying to solve the problem for months. In April, Palazio sent UNFI an email with photos and maps documenting the issues.

“Ivan and I met with the [Brooklyn] director of the DOT Keith Bray and we had our loading zone hours changed to accommodate UNFI’s earlier deliveries, which is necessary for this neighborhood. BUT we can’t have UNFI drivers blocking Hicks street,” Palazio wrote in the letter to the company, which he shared with the Eagle.

“I thought a few phone calls would have solved this, but the issue persists,” the letter continued. “Whomever assigns our driver please instruct them not to block Hicks Street. It creates a major safety hazard and upsets the neighborhood when cars and other trucks can not get through, not to mention all the unnecessary noise that it brings …”

The letter had little effect, however — as events this past Monday showed.

A dent and cracked window can be seen on the UPS hit on Monday by the over-sized delivery truck. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

How one truck caused chaos

On Monday, the Eagle visited the intersection of Montague and Hicks streets and watched as one single giant truck caused disruption by:

– Illegally blocking traffic at the western end of Montague Street for more than an hour;

– Sideswiping a UPS truck while trying to make a narrow turn, damaging the UPS truck’s body and cracking the window;

– Remaining wedged at the intersection of Pierrepont and Hicks streets for more than an hour as a UPS supervisor was called in;

– Blocking traffic from turning onto Pierrepont, forcing firetrucks — sirens wailing — to detour around it to the next street, Love Lane. The firetrucks were rushing to an emergency in a brownstone near the Appellate Courthouse on Monroe Place.

“These streets aren’t built for trucks this size,” an infuriated court officer at the scene on Monroe Place told the Eagle. “Something has to be done before a tragedy happens.”

On Monday, the UNFI truck blocked the corner of Hicks and Pierrepont streets after it sideswiped a UPS truck. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Simon: That truck is ‘too darn big’ for NYC

“That truck is too darn big for New York City, particularly Montague Street,” Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon told the Eagle. With the truck blocking police, ambulances and FDNY, “You could kill somebody this way. This is one of those things that really is a problem for emergency vehicles. It’s insane — deliveries to a store should not imperil the public,” she said.

The law banning oversized trucks on city streets is not new, Simon said. “It’s from the ‘80s, I believe, back when I was president of the Boerum Hill Association. It’s being ignored.”

This situation needs attention at the highest executive level — “That’s the mayor,” she said. “This is something the mayor should be doing … I wouldn’t be surprised if other communities are experiencing something similar.”

A neighbor sent in a photo of the enormous truck illegally blocking Montague Street while making deliveries. Photo courtesy of a Brooklyn Heights resident

DOT: It’s an enforcement problem

DOT has taken a number of steps over the past year to accommodate deliveries on city streets, including installing 1,100 new loading zones, starting a “microhub” pilot program, and issuing a guide for delivery companies on how to navigate city streets.

NYC DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone said the problem of oversized trucks, however, is not a DOT issue, but rather an enforcement issue.

“We’d refer you to NYPD for comment on the enforcement of parking regulations and the city’s truck route network,” he told the Eagle.