{"id":389902,"date":"2026-11-01T17:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/389902\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T17:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:26:11","slug":"urban-league-nyc-delivery-bill-could-hurt-black-owned-businesses-the-root","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/389902\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban League: NYC Delivery Bill Could Hurt Black-Owned Businesses \u2013 The Root"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City\u2019s fight <\/a>to rein in Amazon could come at a steep cost for Black entrepreneurs. A proposed Delivery Protection Act, backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, aims to hold major corporations accountable for delivery workers\u2019 safety and working conditions. But the legislation could also upend an industry where Black and immigrant business owners have carved out opportunities to build wealth and create jobs. <\/p>\n

Sponsored by City Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n, the Delivery Protection Act, also known as Intro 518<\/a>, would require certain last-mile warehouse operators to obtain city licenses, meet new safety and training standards and directly employ workers responsible for core delivery and warehouse operations. The measure targets the subcontracting model used by companies like Amazon, which rely on independent delivery businesses to get packages to customers.<\/p>\n

But the National Urban League argues the proposal could dismantle a network of independent businesses, many owned by Black and immigrant entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

In a formal letter to the New York City Council reviewed by The Root, the organization wrote, \u201cWe believe that the legislation, while its intentions may in the eyes of some be positive, has and will have a negative effect and cause thousands of jobs to be lost, increasing the racial wealth gap and raising costs for consumers at every turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Mamdani Unveils 2034 Roadmap for Racial Equity Across NYC<\/a><\/p>\n

Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and constitutional lawyer, called the legislation \u201cunconstitutional,\u201d arguing it could devastate business owners who have invested their savings, taken out bank loans and even mortgaged their homes to build delivery companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho guarantees that they\u2019re going to have jobs? Who asked them if they want to go work for the major company?\u201d Morial said during an October press conference, challenging the assumption that displaced workers would simply transition to Amazon or another major employer.<\/p>\n

Those concerns reflect a September analysis of the legislation\u2019s potential economic effects, drawing on a study by consulting firm AKRF. It estimates that between 3,000 and 10,000 or more New York City jobs could be at risk, depending on how companies respond. Approximately 80% of the last-mile workforce is made up of workers of color, and more than 100 subcontracted delivery businesses may operate across the city, many of them minority-, immigrant-, veteran-, or family-owned.<\/p>\n

Mamdani, however, says the changes are necessary to address working conditions, worker injuries and unsafe streets. According to the mayor\u2019s office<\/a>, a 2025 comptroller\u2019s report found that 78% of areas near last-mile facilities experienced an increase in injury-causing crashes after the facilities opened.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers should not be forced to subsidize corporate profits with less safe streets and more precarious jobs,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement.<\/p>\n

For Morial, however, the stakes extend beyond individual business owners. With Black Americans owning just 3% to 4% of businesses nationwide, he argues that cities should help Black entrepreneurs build and grow businesses, not eliminate opportunities in an industry where they have established a foothold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would destroy business owners who have taken out bank loans and mortgaged their houses,\u201d Morial continued. \u201cAnd will destroy their wealth and perhaps destroy their income.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the debate is about how packages reach New Yorkers\u2019 doorsteps just as much as it is about who gets to participate in the city\u2019s economy, who gets to build generational wealth and whether corporate accountability can coexist with the survival of Black-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just believe very strongly that the City Council should take a second look,\u201d Morial said. \u201cTake a hard look at whether this is really in the best interest of New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Straight From \"The<\/p>\n

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City\u2019s fight to rein in Amazon could come at a steep cost for Black entrepreneurs. A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-389902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}