{"id":359633,"date":"2026-09-29T09:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T09:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/359633\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T09:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T09:48:10","slug":"nyc-delivery-workers-report-staggering-rates-of-injury-mental-health-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/359633\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Delivery Workers Report Staggering Rates of Injury, Mental Health Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report<\/a> by the CUNY School of Public Health and the Workers Justice Project, first obtained by The City Reporter, zeroes in on the issue of deactivation<\/a> and reveals the vast physical and mental toll of delivery work on the city\u2019s estimated 70,000 deliveristas.<\/p>\n

The CUNY research team polled 561 delivery workers between March and May; of those, more than half said they\u2019d been injured on the job, more than five times the national rate among delivery messengers. A staggering 40% of respondents met the criteria for severe psychological distress.<\/p>\n

Workers have spoken out for years about the dangers of the job, detailing incidents of close calls and bad crashes<\/a> on the city\u2019s streets. Delivering on time \u2014 and remaining in good standing with their employer \u2014 is their primary concern.<\/p>\n

The researchers found that workers are often pressured by the platforms to deliver as quickly as possible \u2014 essentially incentivizing workers to race through the city\u2019s streets at unsafe speeds, risking injury to themselves and others. The constant threat of job loss contributed to feelings of anxiety and depression among the mostly immigrant workforce, the researchers concluded.<\/p>\n

\u2018Totally Trapped\u2019<\/p>\n

The term deactivation refers to when a company locks workers out of their accounts, essentially firing them. More than half of the respondents \u2013 52% \u2014 said they worry about their accounts getting deactivated if they do not work quickly enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Protection from deactivation tops the list of workers\u2019 needs, ahead of more working hours, crime protection and pay transparency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DeliveryA delivery workers zips through Times Square, Oct. 7, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

\u201cThe apps, the algorithm controls major aspects of the job, and then if workers don\u2019t comply, the companies have this punitive tool that they deploy whenever workers fall short of their expectations,\u201d said Mustafa Hussein, health policy and economics professor at the CUNY School of Public Health and one of the lead authors of the study.<\/p>\n

The threat of deactivation \u201chas significant implications for workers\u2019 mental health, for their injury rates, their risk-taking, and even for the safety of pedestrians and other cyclists on the street,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

MORE: \u2018We Screwed Up\u2019 \u2013 DoorDash to Pay $131.5 Million to Stiffed NYC Delivery Workers<\/a><\/p>\n

But leaders in the industry have long maintained that they only deactivate workers\u2019 accounts on rare occasions and only as a last resort.<\/p>\n

DoorDash has previously said<\/a> that it allows workers to appeal their deactivations. Certain behaviors,\u00a0 such as evidence that a \u201cDasher\u201d submitted a fake ID or tax number number, are red flags. A spokesperson said that deactivations are reserved for serious or repeated violations of its policies. The company has offered no-cost occupational accident insurance coverage, though workers have said they\u2019ve struggled to access relie<\/a>f in the past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Uber says that it only deactivates accounts it deems engaged in fraudulent conduct \u2014 such as using false IDs or sharing accounts \u2014 or other unsafe behavior. Company spokesperson Josh Gold said account deactivations are \u201crare, but when they do happen, we aim to make the process as transparent and fair as possible, including by having \u201cevery appeal reviewed by a real person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work is never done and we\u2019re always working to make this process clearer, more consistent and more fair,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response to questions from The City Reporter, a representative for Grubhub struck a similar chord, and noted that the company does not incentivize or encourage fast driving in any of its markets, including New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NYC\u2019s \u2018Just Cause\u2019 Law<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s findings are almost certain to reverberate across the industry and with policymakers. On Wednesday, the City Council will hold a hearing on nearly two dozen bills<\/a> that seek to address the issue of street safety. Among the proposals: banning the sale of some e-bikes, stepping up speed limit enforcement for e-bikes and mopeds, and creating new licensing requirements in the delivery sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ligia Guallpa, the head of the Workers Justice Project, said that what deliveristas need \u201cis protected bike lanes, loading zones, and the tools to fight back against deactivations and an algorithm that is abusing and endangering workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DeliveryDelivery workers celebrate the opening of the Deliverista Hub at City Hall Park, April 7, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

A law creating \u201cjust cause\u201d protections<\/a> for delivery workers goes into effect next year and prohibits delivery apps from deactivating workers unless for just cause or \u201cbona-fide economic reasons\u201d and requires at least 14 days\u2019 notice before locking workers out of their accounts. Workers have long said they have been locked out of their accounts for arbitrary and unjust reasons with little or no explanation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carlos Ortiz, policy chief at the city\u2019s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, said the agency is finalizing its rulemaking for the law, which is slated to go into effect on Jan. 17, 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ortiz said that CUNY report\u2019s findings that deactivations are workers\u2019 primary concern are consistent with the agency\u2019s own data and with the feedback it has received from workers in private meetings and other forums.<\/p>\n

Bearing the Brunt<\/p>\n

The issue of deactivations governs how workers behave on the streets and interact with restaurants and customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamadou Ba, a former delivery worker, recalled being locked out of his UberEats account last April after he failed to complete a takeout delivery. He collided with another cyclist, sending food flying everywhere. The previous week, he received a negative review from a customer; there was apparently an issue with their drink order.<\/p>\n

Ba lost money \u2014 and sleep \u2014 over the sudden loss of his job. For a while, he struggled to make ends meet by collecting cans, netting about $60 to $70 a day. He now works at an Amazon warehouse. He wasn\u2019t surprised to learn that the CUNY researchers determined that delivery workers endure high stress on the job. In fact, he said, \u201cit should be 99%\u201d of workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CUNY\u2019s study, the first of its kind since a 2022 report by the city\u2019s worker protection agency and the first since New York implemented a suite of laws governing the industry<\/a> in 2023, also offers a fresh look at how much the workforce has transformed in recent years. And it is bound to introduce fresh scrutiny of the city\u2019s minimum pay standards, which currently sit at $22.13 per hour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The report found that while workers are earning an average $23 an hour including tips, more than two-third live in households earning under the federal poverty level. A majority of workers say they work full-time toiling delivery for the apps, a figure consistent with earlier findings from the DCWP<\/a> and Cornell University<\/a> in 2022 and 2021, respectively.<\/p>\n

Changing Demographics<\/p>\n

The workforce itself has also changed dramatically since its pandemic boom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A majority of workers surveyed by CUNY were African or South Asian, with Latinos coming in third among ethnic groups at 20% \u2014 a stark change from a dominance of Latin American immigrants just a few years ago that remains evident in the name of the leading group representing the workers, Los Deliveristas Unidos.<\/p>\n

Worker complaints of wage theft stemming from deactivations are what spurred an investigation that last week led to a historic $131.5 million agreement<\/a> between DoorDash and the administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani to settle wage theft complaints from thousands of workers. The probe, which began under Mamdani\u2019s predecessor Eric Adams, is the largest of its kind in the city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Several workers who submitted the initial 2023 complaint told The City Reporter<\/a> at the time that their DoorDash accounts had been deactivated without cause, and said the company illegally withheld their final payments.<\/p>\n

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