Amazon owes New York City around $9.7 million in outstanding fines for illegal idling vehicles, according to data collected by anti-idling advocacy organization New York Clean Air Collective.
Data provided by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection indicates that Amazon has racked up 11,434 tickets worth for illegally idling as of the most recent data available. Idling commercial vehicles for more than three minutes is strictly prohibited in New York City, and the Department of Environmental Protection deputizes everyday citizens to enforce these rules through the Citizens Air Complaint Program. Members of the public can snap photos of illegally idling commercial vehicles and submit a complaint that ultimately kicks back a portion of the fine to the finder.
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Amazon’s current ticket tab is just under $10 million, according to Streetsblog, which first reported this story. City data show the company has paid $7.6 million, though its tab reached nearly $22.7 million in fines, penalties, and fees at one point. City officials recently clawed back more of Amazon’s outstanding debt, though data says the Seattle-based shipping giant has defaulted on nearly 1900 of the 11,434 tickets currently active, which amounts to $3.7 million in overdue fines and penalties owed to New York City by Amazon.
“The Department of Finance’s Collections Unit has recently recovered more than $870,000 in outstanding debt from Amazon. We continue to actively pursue collection of this debt,” New York City Department of Finance spokesperson Ryan Lavis said in an email to Streetsblog.
The majority of these idling infractions occurred in Brooklyn, with the borough marked on 8138 of the 11,434 tickets. Manhattan followed in a distant second place, for 2823 of the tickets. 452 tickets were issued in Queens, followed by 17 in The Bronx, and a mere three in Staten Island. Of the tens of thousands of tickets Amazon has received, the shipping giant has managed to get only 16 dismissed.
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“As the largest corporation in the world, Amazon rents our streets essentially for free, blocking traffic and pumping pollution in our lungs,” the New York Clean Air Collective said in a statement to Streetsblog. “But when it comes time for this $2 trillion company to pay the penalties for illegally polluting our air, Amazon just can’t be bothered.”
Idling fees aren’t unique to New York City. California and its Air Resources Board aggressively enforce idling regulations for heavy-duty vehicles and offer a similar civilian complaint system; Oregon and Washington both have similar idling regulations, as well. In Europe, Germany has particularly strict idling rules, such as banning the practice of unnecessarily warming your car up; on the other side of the English Channel, some United Kingdom cities mandate switching your vehicle off if parked for more than 30 seconds.
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A New York transplant hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Emmet White has a passion for anything that goes: cars, bicycles, planes, and motorcycles. After learning to ride at 17, Emmet worked in the motorcycle industry before joining Autoweek in 2022 and Road & Track in 2024. The woes of alternate side parking have kept his fleet moderate, with a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta GLI and a BMW 318i E30 street parked in his Queens community.