New York City

In Mamdani's War on Delivery Apps, New Yorkers Are the Collateral Damage

New York City's own past policies are to blame for much of the gig economy drama, which Mayor Mamdani will further exacerbate.

C. Jarrett Dieterle | 2.14.2026 7:00 AM

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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (Photo: Derek French/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom)

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is barely a month into the job, and he's already aggressively seeking to follow through on his campaign pledge to crack down on the gig economy. In recent weeks, his administration has launched several high-profile initiatives against gig companies, seeking to portray them as greedy corporations out to fleece earnest workers.

But behind the flashy press releases and dramatic saber rattling, the reality is that New York City's own past policies are to blame for much of the gig economy drama in the Big Apple. And worse yet, it's every day New Yorkers who will likely suffer most from this regulatory onslaught.

From day one on the job, the Mamdani administration has made its anti-gig bent clear. On inauguration day, Mamdani's pick to head the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), Samuel Levine, was already signaling to the press the coming gig economy crackdown. Even prior to Mamdani's official inauguration, Levine's appointment to head DCWP was accompanied by language accusing gig companies of misclassifying workers as independent contractors instead of full-scale employees.

Before serving in the Mamdani administration,........

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