The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has ruled that rideshare company Empower is running an illegal taxi service. It must be driven off the city’s roads. Immediately.
This happened before, in 2014, when Lyft started here without TLC approval. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and state Superintendent of Financial Services Ben Lawsky sued and stopped Lyft, which later had to pay a $300,000 fine for breaking laws. Lyft then agreed to abide by the rules.
In 2026, AG Tish James and Kaitlin Asrow, acting superintendent of DFS, must bring legal action. And Gov. Hochul should give Asrow a strong push to get moving.
Empower has a choice: Shut down or follow the rules. Until then the TLC needs to start revoking the hack licenses of any driver caught driving for Empower and the owner of any vehicle used by Empower should be hit with a $10,000 fine.
New York is the only big city in the country where the majority of the people don’t have cars. Yellow taxis and legal apps car services like Lyft and Uber are public conveyances and must abide by the laws and rules. If Empower wants to run a pirate operation elsewhere, that’s their business, but not here.
Mayor Mamdani, who built his career in helping yellow cabbies and who broke fast with some of them last night, has to get on the phone to James and Asrow pronto. His nominee for TLC chair, Midori Valdivia, has already rightly declared war, saying at her City Council confirmation hearing last week: “I will use every power in the TLC’s authority, and as much power as I can in the city’s authority, to stop Empower and stop this illegal operation.”
Valdivia needs to be quickly confirmed and the three other vacancies on the TLC, Council-recommended members from Manhattan and the Bronx and a mayoral pick, also need to be nominated and seated to get the agency to full strength.
The CEO of Empower had the gall to testify at Valdivia’s hearing boasting that he’s running more than 100,000 trips a week in New York City. Every one of those rides cheated New Yorkers.
Empower does not collect the $1.50 congestion pricing zone fee below 60th St. from passengers. Empower does not collect the $2.75 congestion surcharge below 96th St. from passengers. Empower does not collect the sales tax from passengers (4% for New York State, 4.5% for New York City and 0.375% for the MTA). Empower does not collect the 2.5% Black Car Fund fee from passengers, that goes to a driver’s injury compensation fund. Empower does not collect the $3.50 airport fee from passengers (it just went up from $2.50 on March 15).
This is how Empower charges passengers less, by cheating.
Empower also does not provide cars for passengers who require wheelchair accessible vehicles, which is against the law and TLC rules.
Empower works by having drivers pay a flat fee to Empower and then set their own rates and get 100% of the fare. Sorry, maximum rates are set by the TLC. If anyone wants to charge less, that’s their decision, but driver wage minimums must be met. Uber and Lyft follow all the rules. So must Empower or otherwise be run off the road.