Amazon takes over The Bronx: The world’s largest retailer leases another warehouse in the borough

The world’s largest retailer outside of China has taken another bite out of The Bronx as it has leased its sixth warehouse space in the borough.

The latest lease is at 2505 Bruckner Boulevard, the site of the former Whitestone Cinemas which was demolished a few years ago and has since been developed into New York City’s largest logistics facility with a total square footage of approximately 1.07 million square feet.

Amazon has taken the 568,543 square feet of the first level at the facility which sits at the crossroads of the Bruckner Expressway, the Cross Bronx, and the Hutchinson River Parkway.

This brings the total square footage that the online behemoth has taken in The Bronx since it began its foray into the borough in 2019 to just over 1.5 million square feet spread across the six warehouses it now leases in the borough.

When 2505 Bruckner was announced several years ago, many residents speculated that Amazon would probably take over the site given the sheer size of its facilities but given that the company had announced in September that it was closing or canceling plans to lease 44 warehouses across the country, including two in Northern Jersey and one in Long Island, the announcement last week came as a surprise to many.

Back in 2019, the company leased its first Bronx warehouse at 1300 Viele Avenue which is 117,000 square feet in size. Then in 2020, just months into the COVID-19 pandemic and as New York City and the nation was on pause, the company snatched up two significant industrial properties via leases: 200,000 square feet at the former ABC Carpet warehouse along the Bronx River at Bruckner Boulevard and 366,000 square feet at the old Model’s Sporting Goods property in Morris Park at 1500 Basset Avenue.

Then a year later in 2021, Amazon leased its fourth location at 511 Barry Street in Hunts Point, taking 139,700 square feet there followed by 145,000 square feet at 1080 Leggett Avenue.

While many welcome the opportunity for more jobs within the borough, others feel that given Amazon’s anti-union stance, the jobs may not be quality jobs that residents so desperately need.

There’s also the fact that with 1.5 million square feet spread across The Bronx, this will only mean more trucks and vans exacerbating traffic and in turn causing more pollution making matters worse for residents who already suffer from some of the highest rates of asthma in the nation.

At the very least, companies like Amazon should make their delivery fleets fully electric to lessen their impact on the environment within our borough and help ensure that they don’t negatively impact the quality of life for our residents.