NEW YORK, NY— New York City’s delivery worker protections risk under-enforcement after Mayor Mamdani proposed a preliminary budget that would cut the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection by 8.5 percent, the city’s top consumer regulator acknowledged Thursday.
“With respect to how we can effectively implement these laws, there are significant additional [budget] needs,” Commissioner Sam Levine told City Council members during a preliminary budget hearing.
Levine later reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to enforce the new rules regardless of funding, prompting skepticism from Council leadership.
“I know there’s some limitations on what you can say here today, I have no limitations,” Council Majority Leader and Transportation Committee Chair Shaun Abreu said. “Seriously, we need to get you the resources that you need, and we need to get all those lines that you need to do your job.”
As a mayoral candidate last year, Mamdani campaigned to double DCWP’s budget. His preliminary proposal for the 2027 fiscal year allocates $74.7 million, down from $81.7 million in fiscal 2026.
The Council passed multiple delivery worker protections last year, including expanding minimum wage rules, requiring tipping options before checkout, and protecting app-based drivers from “deactivation” without cause.
The deactivation bans go into effect for delivery apps in December and for ride-share drivers this summer. Advocates warn the threat of deactivation has pressured drivers to operate recklessly, increasing street hazards.
DCWP anticipates a surge of complaints under the deactivation laws. “They do require significant resources in order to do analysis,” Levine said.
To implement the delivery app deactivation bill, DCWP estimates it needs 34 additional staff. The ride-share deactivation law would require 170 new employees, with a total projected cost of $5.5 million.