The Department of Finance recently collected $6.88 million in Environmental Control Board judgment violations and another $2.15 million in pre-judgment violations connected to vehicles operating through Amazon Logistics, which relies on third-party transportation contractors.

According to the mayor’s office, Amazon had the most outstanding fines under the city’s idling laws.

“Amazon is worth $2 trillion,” Mamdani said in the announcement first seen by amNewYork. “Yet, it did not deign to pay the millions of dollars it racked up in unpaid fines as its trucks illegally polluted our air and forced New Yorkers to breathe in their exhaust.”

New York City law generally bars vehicles from idling for more than three minutes while parked, standing or stopped. The city says the rules are meant to reduce air pollution, improve public health and combat climate change.

Earlier this year, Mamdani directed the Department of Finance’s collections unit to pursue unpaid idling summonses tied to vehicles operating within Amazon’s delivery network, according to the mayor’s office. The department said it worked with Amazon.com Inc. and its contracted transportation vendors to recover the money.

The announcement came after a Wednesday CNBC interview in which Bezos discussed wealth inequality, taxes, and New York City government spending. Bezos argued that a nurse in Queens making $75,000 a year should not be paying more than $12,000 in taxes annually, before also criticizing NYC’s school system, saying the city spends $44,000 per student and that too little of that money reaches teachers.

Asked about higher taxes on billionaires, Bezos said doubling his own taxes would not help “that teacher in Queens.”

Mamdani responded on X to a clip of Bezos’ remarks, writing: “I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ.”

Bezos was also asked about Mamdani’s push for a pied-à-terre tax and the video he made promoting it outside billionaire and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin’s residence – the fallout from which has Griffin rethinking a $6 billion project in NYC. 

Bezos said it was “perfectly fine” to debate whether New York should adopt such a tax, but criticized Mamdani for standing outside Griffin’s home and portraying him as “some kind of villain.”

“Taxes on out-of-towners are very popular taxes. That’s why there are hotel taxes,” Bezos said.

“A pied-à-terre tax is a fine thing for New York to do,” Bezos said. “But it’s a policy debate. Policy debates don’t have to be finger-pointing.”

In Thursday’s announcement, Mamdani said the city would continue pursuing money owed by large companies.

“These laws exist for a reason: cleaner air, healthier communities, and a city where corporations are held to the same standard as everyone else,” he said. “Today we are making clear that no company — no matter how large or powerful — is above the law.”

New Yorkers can report idling vehicles through 311 or the city’s Citizens Air Complaint Program.