@Karen, @ARL what did seniors and shut ins do before Amazon Prime and Fresh direct? They must have starved. Sorry, I conservatively bet 90% of the deliveries are to non-shut ins and non senior convenience and impulse shoppers.
Like Costco the Amazon Prime business model convinces members to always think Prime and click the icon.
And, why walk two blocks to Duane-Reade for that hand lotion, a la my late 90 year aunt, when you can help the struggling cardboard and styrofoam industries while vegging on the couch.
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Home delivery services such Fresh Direct and Amazon are critical to people who do not drive and have difficulty hauling groceries and other bulky items. Taking a bus or taxi doesn't solve the problem of loading/unloading and getting items to my apartment. These services enhance my independence and free me to do the things I enjoy e.g. museums, restaurants, etc. These services in addition to direct deposit of checks, on-line banking, e mail have enhanced my life.
I'm not sure how seniors/shut-ins are expected to be able to get food if they cant get deliveries from grocers to their home. Shall we queue up all the people, bus them to the grocer and back or just box up their orders and deliver to each person? The milkman has returned as aging in place scales up.
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Let's not forget that it was Bloomberg who created much of the congestion after appealing to his pro-bike anti-car lobbies to give them what they wanted buddies and friends with ride sharing apps for not capping them, which in turn can be used as a way to help promote congestion pricing hence the Bloomberg Way.
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New York City doesn't mind the congestion as long as they're raking in the summons money.
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With the assumption of Amazon to do its own deliveries, we have not just an added many vehicles, we have the Amazon ethic of doing everything fast, never mind the danger. A week ago Sunday, I witnessed an Amazon Prime van careen around the corner from W. 231 St. into Tibbett Ave. going north. It dinged a parked car with a resounding bang and continued its merry way as if nothing happened. The driver should have stopped and called the police to report the accident. Property was damaged.
With Amazon's focus only on speed, we should not be surprised if hit-and-runs occur in the future.
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Why not put the brilliant minds in the city's various agencies to work on using the subway to transport packages to their recipients. For example, use specially designed cars to carry smaller-sized packages, during the wee hours of the day, to stations close to recipients. Delivery personnel using electric carts or bikes would then transfer the packages from the subway station to the addressee's location. Undoubtedly, this is an over-simplified description of the concept but the subway system touches most of the city; why not use it to relieve some of the congestion described in this article?
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You could also put lockers in the stations - as not everyone has a package room. The mta could also make some money on renting out the locker space.
@Peter Smith
My recollection is that the Post Office once did use the City subway to transport sacks of mail to the Bronx (and elsewhere) using the last car in the train (along with postal personnel) and in the middle of the night. Proper! Shades of the Railway inter-urban Mail Service. [In the 1960s, there was a collection box in Penna. Station. Mail deposited there before 8 o'clock a.m. was delivered in downtown Washington, D.C., that day!] And also pneumatic tubes in mid-town Manhattan!
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In the From The Times section: "Review: Zeffirelli’s ‘La Bohème’ Returns, Brighter and Better"
"Jeff Bezos' Vaults"
tune of "Musetta's Waltz"
I wrote it, but lost my nerve to post it - I actually think Amazon, instead of stealing the whole market as some feared, has made other companies improve their game to be competitive.
I do love that something called "Prime" has become something it's unusual for people not to have.
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Your unposted song is a smile not seen. In other words, we miss your songs!
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@American girl - Thanks, it turned out nastier to Amazon than I wanted to be, and maybe more disrespectful to the opera, too. (I could never match "Gilligan's Island" doing Carmen anyway.)
That review made me think it was a perfect birthday gift for my spouse, but it was sticker shock at the site. Hoping it gets video'd for the movie theaters.
I did revive my tribute to Anonymous in honor of his or her book coming out, though.
"If I Could Talk to Anonymous"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veHUrsMi_hw
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On the one hand you have one truck delivering packages to dozens of customers. On the other hand you would have those dozens of customers driving around or using cabs, trains and buses, going from shop to shop to shop, to do their shopping. Which is worse?
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@MIKEinNYC - That's a fascinating thought. Thinking about that, though, there are actually so many things I have delivered that I'd just do without if I had to go get them. I just ordered a Sammy Cahn songbook because it was reasonable, took 30 seconds to order, and the song list looked like it would be fun to have for parties. But to be honest, if I had to get from 10th Avenue to 8th Avenue to buy it, I probably wouldn't have bothered. Just one $15 item, but I imagine this happens all over the country thousands if not millions times a week.
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@Freddie
So maybe if everybody stopped buying things they don't really need, the world would be a better place. Now where's my flavored seltzer?
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Freddie, it's been many a decade since I could go to Schirmer's, approach the counter on the left, and ask that remarkable dark-haired woman for a certain bit of sheer music simply by saying, "Well, Irene Dunne sings it to Melvin Douglas in this movie, but I can't remember the name of the movie or the song --"
Whereupon -- true story -- she smiled, went into the back room, and returned with "Be Still, My Heart."
I miss those days.
But in Arundel, Maine, in the big antiques barn there, there's still old sheet music. Or was.
And in New Hampshire, near Concord.
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