De Blasio Blinks In War of Words With Uber

Late on Thursday afternoon, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration announced that it was dropping support for the proposed cap on Uber’s growth. In exchange, the city says Uber will start contributing to the MTA  and add worker and consumer protections.

The city will conduct a four-month traffic study and may pursue a cap again if Uber doesn’t live up to its end of the bargain. But for now, the proposed cap on new Uber drivers is dead.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz issued a statement saying, “The legislation concerning a cap on growth should be withdrawn, and a thorough study of Uber and the entire industry should be done before any cap is considered.” Saying a study should be enacted prior to placing any caps on growth in the taxi industry, Diaz called the legislation before the City Council flawed and warned of “the unintended consequence of inhibiting the growth of livery car services in my borough.”

Diaz promised to participate in the study and to continue engaging with all sides of the debate on the impact of Uber and other rideshare services.

Over the past few days, a number of elected officials, including Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams; city comptroller Scott Stringer; and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries –as well as Governor Andrew Cuomo– came out against the cap.

Also, a group of Bronx elected officials and livery taxi industry leaders met Wednesday morning to discuss their concerns with the pending Council legislation.

The ad hoc group agreed that the bill offered no protection for the livery industry and urged the City Council table the bill until it includes protection for the livery car services.

[Photo caption: Senator Rev Ruben Diaz; Bronx County Leader Marcos Crespo, Senator Adriano Espaillat, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, Antonio Cabrera, Daniel Genese, Elvin Marte, Marcos De La Cruz, Nancy Soria, Francisco Roa, Jose R. Jean, Cira Angeles, Avik Kabessa]

[Photo caption: Senator Rev Ruben Diaz; Bronx County Leader Marcos Crespo, Senator Adriano Espaillat, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, Antonio Cabrera, Daniel Genese, Elvin Marte, Marcos De La Cruz, Nancy Soria, Francisco Roa, Jose R. Jean, Cira Angeles, Avik Kabessa]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email