New York City Mayor Eric Adams seeks oversight of delivery services
At the annual State of the City address Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams proposed a new department to boost oversight of deliveries by scooters, mopeds, or cargo bikes. Credit: Craig Ruttle
Deliveries by e-bike, mopeds and cargo bikes in New York City would be regulated by a new government agency, Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday.
The agency, to be called the Department of Sustainable Delivery, would license, register and impose rules on the vehicles, companies that employ the drivers, such as Amazon and Instacart, and the drivers themselves.
Workers’ hours, their speed and the weight being transported, along with regulating drivers’ behavior, are among the targets of the proposed new agency. Workers would be able to report complaints about companies that hire them, and the public could complain about delivery drivers’ risky behavior.
Adams announced the proposed department during the annual State of the City, delivered this year in the Bronx, where he also touted his administration's efforts on a range of subjects
“Two years in, we are seeing real results: Crime is down, jobs are up and every day we’re delivering for everyday New Yorkers,” said Adams, who entered the auditorium of Hostos Community College in the Bronx to Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” which his team typically plays whenever he enters a public event.
Adams’ deputy for operations, Meera Joshi, said an increase in the number of delivery workers meant a need to increase oversight.
“As New Yorkers, we want everything, everywhere all the time, and that’s resulted in on-demand delivery, and that’s resulted in a lot of new modes to get things everywhere, all the time,” Joshi said. “But we also have a sense that our bike lanes now are bursting at the seams, and we need to bring order to the bike lanes.”
Before the app revolution, delivery workers typically were employed for a specific restaurant or grocery. Now, the workers tend to be independent contractors — with tax and liability implications — who don’t work directly for companies such as Uber Eats and DoorDash.
“If you’re going to work in New York, if you’re going to have independent contractors delivering stuff all over New York City, you have to meet these basic guidelines,” Moshi told reporters after the news conference. This is the front door for entry.”
Adams spoke as his administration copes with an influx of thousands of foreign migrants who continue to arrive in the city. So far, at least 172,000 have come since spring 2022; about 68,000 of them remain in city room and board. By the next fiscal year, costs to the city budget is expected to top $10 billion.
“We are proud. We have done our part. But we need others to do their part,” he said, repeating his call for the federal government to give the city more money to handle the migrant crisis.
Among the jobs held by migrants in the city: delivery workers.
Uber spokesman Josh Gold said in an email that he hopes regulations will mean all companies, not just third-party delivery apps such as Uber, “will operate under the same standards.”
He said Uber’s delivery workers get at least $18 an hour, but restaurant delivery workers get $12.50.
Adams also promised to shorten how long NYPD discipline cases take to resolve and combat hate crimes.
Outside the venue, anti-Adams protesters on Grand Concourse chanted behind police barricades — urging the closure of the troubled jails on Rikers Island, the restoration of cuts to social services and the passage of legislation to track more kinds of police stops.
Deliveries by e-bike, mopeds and cargo bikes in New York City would be regulated by a new government agency, Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday.
The agency, to be called the Department of Sustainable Delivery, would license, register and impose rules on the vehicles, companies that employ the drivers, such as Amazon and Instacart, and the drivers themselves.
Workers’ hours, their speed and the weight being transported, along with regulating drivers’ behavior, are among the targets of the proposed new agency. Workers would be able to report complaints about companies that hire them, and the public could complain about delivery drivers’ risky behavior.
Adams announced the proposed department during the annual State of the City, delivered this year in the Bronx, where he also touted his administration's efforts on a range of subjects
“Two years in, we are seeing real results: Crime is down, jobs are up and every day we’re delivering for everyday New Yorkers,” said Adams, who entered the auditorium of Hostos Community College in the Bronx to Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” which his team typically plays whenever he enters a public event.
Adams’ deputy for operations, Meera Joshi, said an increase in the number of delivery workers meant a need to increase oversight.
“As New Yorkers, we want everything, everywhere all the time, and that’s resulted in on-demand delivery, and that’s resulted in a lot of new modes to get things everywhere, all the time,” Joshi said. “But we also have a sense that our bike lanes now are bursting at the seams, and we need to bring order to the bike lanes.”
Before the app revolution, delivery workers typically were employed for a specific restaurant or grocery. Now, the workers tend to be independent contractors — with tax and liability implications — who don’t work directly for companies such as Uber Eats and DoorDash.
“If you’re going to work in New York, if you’re going to have independent contractors delivering stuff all over New York City, you have to meet these basic guidelines,” Moshi told reporters after the news conference. This is the front door for entry.”
Adams spoke as his administration copes with an influx of thousands of foreign migrants who continue to arrive in the city. So far, at least 172,000 have come since spring 2022; about 68,000 of them remain in city room and board. By the next fiscal year, costs to the city budget is expected to top $10 billion.
“We are proud. We have done our part. But we need others to do their part,” he said, repeating his call for the federal government to give the city more money to handle the migrant crisis.
Among the jobs held by migrants in the city: delivery workers.
Uber spokesman Josh Gold said in an email that he hopes regulations will mean all companies, not just third-party delivery apps such as Uber, “will operate under the same standards.”
He said Uber’s delivery workers get at least $18 an hour, but restaurant delivery workers get $12.50.
Adams also promised to shorten how long NYPD discipline cases take to resolve and combat hate crimes.
Outside the venue, anti-Adams protesters on Grand Concourse chanted behind police barricades — urging the closure of the troubled jails on Rikers Island, the restoration of cuts to social services and the passage of legislation to track more kinds of police stops.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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