NEW YORK — Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced his support for the Delivery Protection Act, legislation that would rein in the power of corporate delivery giants like Amazon, hold them accountable for their exploitative business model and make New York City’s streets safer for workers, drivers and pedestrians.
Major corporations like Amazon have built billion-dollar businesses on a subcontracting system designed to shield them from responsibility. Through delivery subcontractors, corporations dictate hiring standards, delivery routes, steep productivity quotas and workplace expectations while denying that the workers making those deliveries are employees. The result is a system that leaves workers vulnerable and corporations free to avoid accountability for reckless conditions on city streets.
Sponsored by New York City Council Member Tiffany L. Cabán, the Delivery Protection Act would create a licensing system for certain last-mile warehouses and distribution facilities while establishing new safety, training and labor standards.
The legislation would also hold the company operating the facility, such as Amazon, responsible for employing the workers performing core services, such as delivery. That would give the City the tools to regulate last-mile operations and ensure major companies like Amazon are responsible for the consequences of the business decisions they make.
“Corporations like Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability through a system of exploitative subcontracting. As last-mile delivery centers have exploded across New York, so too have traffic accidents and worker injuries. The Delivery Protection Act is commonsense regulation that protects delivery workers, safeguards the communities where these facilities operate and ensures that the corporations benefiting from workers’ labor are responsible for the consequences of their business practices,” said Mayor Mamdani. “New Yorkers should not be forced to subsidize corporate profits with less safe streets and more precarious jobs. The people who make these companies run deserve dignity, stability and a safe workplace. It’s time to end the subcontracting model that puts profits over people and build an economy that works for working New Yorkers.”
“New York City should be a place where working people, consumers, small businesses and companies that play by the rules know they’ll get a fair shake. Corporations that rely on cheap, exploited labor undercut that promise,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. “For years, Amazon has relied on a convoluted subcontracting system that denies last-mile drivers the protections other workers get, while maintaining extraordinary control over their schedules, workloads, and uniforms. The Delivery Protection Act would close this loophole, improve safety for drivers and communities and begin to correct the imbalance of power that massive corporations like Amazon have accumulated.”
“An economy that rewards exploitation, shields powerful corporations from responsibility and forces workers to gamble with their lives to earn a paycheck is not worthy of this city. The Delivery Protection Act affirms a simple idea: those who profit from our labor and public spaces must also be responsible for the people and communities that make it possible,” said Samuel A.A. Levine, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). “DCWP will use every ounce of our authority to protect workers and fight for safe streets. Because this city doesn’t run because multi-billion-dollar corporations say so. It runs because working people show up every single day.”
Last mile facilities are warehouses where packages are sorted and dispatched for final delivery. Since 2017, at least 18 large last-mile facilities have opened across New York City, including 11 since 2020. Although major delivery companies like Amazon do not always employ the drivers working out of these facilities directly, they nonetheless exert significant control over their actions and workplaces. For instance, a recent Bloomberg Businessweek investigation found that Amazon controls “which drivers [delivery subcontractors] can hire, when they work, where they drive, what they say, how they [dress] and much more.”
These facilities have also been linked to worsening traffic safety. A 2025 report from the Office of the Comptroller found that 78% of nearby areas experienced an increase in injury-causing crashes after last-mile facilities opened. In Maspeth, crashes near major FedEx and Amazon warehouses increased by 53% percent and 48% percent, respectively, while a cluster of facilities in East New York also experienced sharp increases in crashes within a half-mile radius.
The Delivery Protection Act would require last-mile facilities to obtain licenses from DCWP and establish minimum safety, training and worker protection standards. The legislation would also ensure companies are accountable for the quotas, schedules and routes that shape working conditions and affect public safety.
Mayor Mamdani’s support for the Delivery Protection Act builds on his administration’s broader effort to challenge concentrated corporate power and deliver a fairer economy for working New Yorkers.
Earlier this year, the Mamdani administration recovered $9 million in unpaid vehicle idling fines from Amazon. Last month, Mayor Mamdani announced the nation’s first municipal “Click-to-Cancel” rule and banned junk fees, making it easier for New Yorkers to understand the true cost of goods and services and cancel unwanted subscriptions. The administration has also taken action against predatory practices in the self-storage industry, cracked down on illegal towing companies and secured $104 million in additional tips for delivery workers through aggressive City enforcement against deceptive tipping practices by Big Tech.
“For too long, companies like Amazon have operated in our city like it’s the Wild West, ignoring workers’ rights, putting our communities in danger, and acting with impunity. It’s time to pass my bill, the Delivery Protection Act to keep workers and our streets safe and to end the charade of huge corporations hiding behind third party contractors to evade accountability,” said New York City Council member Tiffany Cabán. “I look forward to working with the Mayor and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to make this a reality.”
“From exploiting workers to polluting communities with unregulated last-mile facilities, Amazon has harmed working-class communities like mine for long enough,” said New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés. “I’m proud to stand with Mayor Mamdani in the fight for the Delivery Protection Act, and urge my City Council colleagues to stand with workers and environmental justice communities and sign on to this vital legislation.”
“Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner model is the most dangerous business model in America today. It allows Amazon to break the law while hiding behind shell companies it has total control over,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “The Delivery Protection Act is the blueprint for how workers can fight back against Amazon’s greed. The New York City Council must pass this critical legislation and do its part to protect American workers.”
“Amazon’s cowardly business model lets them hide behind third parties and shirk responsibility while workers and our neighbors get hurt. We commend Mayor Mamdani for supporting our movement to hold Amazon accountable. The Delivery Protection Act will deliver justice for Amazon workers and make a trillion-dollar corporation finally take responsibility for their part in our city’s safety,” said Theodore Moore, ALIGN Executive Director and leader of the New Yorkers for a Fair Economy coalition.
“Employers like Amazon put their workers in danger through unsafe working conditions and illegal activity that threatens the safety of the broader public. The Delivery Protection Act will force irresponsible corporations to take accountability of their operations, and finally bring white-collar crime to heel,” said Vincent Perrone, President of Local 804 IBT. “We appreciate Council Member Caban and Mayor Mamdani supporting swift passage of this important bill, and for standing in solidarity with working people across the city of New York.”
“Last-mile delivery is now part of everyday life in New York City, but the rules have not kept up, and workers and communities are paying the price. New Yorkers shouldn’t have to choose between the convenience of delivery and safe jobs, safe streets, and accountability,” said Brendan Griffith, President, New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “The Delivery Protection Act will establish stronger protections for worker safety, employment, and responsible operations while bringing long-overdue oversight to an industry where major operators have too often hidden behind subcontractors. To be clear: when these companies “raise the alarm” of fewer jobs, higher prices, or service reductions, they are describing choices that they may make, not in the best interest of consumers and workers but to protect their bottom line. We thank Mayor Mamdani for standing with the Amazon Teamsters and the Labor Movement in support of this legislation that puts NYC workers — who are also consumers — first, and we urge the City Council to pass it without delay.”