Uber vs. NYC Councilman Steve Levin
Welcome to the first Brownstoner Controversy: a quick guide to the latest and greatest kerfuffle inside and outside of Brooklyn. Uber’s having a rough week. Not only are their French execs facing charges, but a proposed City Council bill threatens to dramatically limit the number of new cars Uber can add to their NYC fleet. The…
Welcome to the first Brownstoner Controversy: a quick guide to the latest and greatest kerfuffle inside and outside of Brooklyn.
Uber’s having a rough week. Not only are their French execs facing charges, but a proposed City Council bill threatens to dramatically limit the number of new cars Uber can add to their NYC fleet.
The bill is co-sponsored by Steve Levin, Councilman of District 33 in northwest Brooklyn. Levin says that capping Uber’s growth is necessary to prevent congestion and pollution. Uber says that the proposed bill looks ahellava lot like one the taxi industry proposed in March.
Already taking sides? Just wait.
What Uber Wants
To grow. Uber and similar car apps are adding about 2,000 drivers every month in New York City. And growth isn’t slowing on its own.
What Steve Levin Wants
To put a hold on it. Levin thinks it’s already pretty easy to call an Uber. Or get a cab. He doesn’t want to ignore the increase in for-hire cars until after it becomes a problem.
Five Facts
- The bill would be temporary, limiting new licenses over a 12-month period
- Uber NYC currently has upwards of 18,000 cars, more than the number of yellow cabs
- Uber drivers often own their own cars and drive less than 40 hours a week
- Without the bill, Uber NYC could add 25,000 cars over the next year
- With the bill, Uber NYC could only add 180 cars over the next year
What do you think? Cap the number of new cars? Let the market dictate Uber’s growth?
.@NYCCouncil is considering a bill that threatens to destroy 10,000 NYC job opportunities. @deBlasioNYC, oppose ban on new @Uber_NYC cars.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) June 30, 2015
Full house: NYC council proposing temporary cap # of vehicles Uber, similar companies can have b/c congestion #NBC4NY pic.twitter.com/np70AZquu0
— Katherine Creag (@katcreag4NY) June 30, 2015
>@StephenLevin33 asks Uber for NYC trip stats. Uber says it gives that data to TLC but “we don’t have that information” for the hearing.
— Stephen Miller (@miller_stephen) June 30, 2015
#Uber protesting outside of city hall today after the Committee on Transportation hearing. #Uber #CityCouncil #NYC pic.twitter.com/hZPy1YfnlQ — NYBCAC (@NYBCAC) June 30, 2015
Yellow cab drivers are protesting #UBER outside of NYC City Hall. pic.twitter.com/3j6AZuDMZq — Tim Pool (@Timcast) June 30, 2015
Uber drivers rally outside City Hall to protest “taxi bail outs” pic.twitter.com/pWHsExNlBh
— WFUV News (@WFUVNews) June 30, 2015
I forgot to insert my eyes rolling at the end. Here they are @@.
Oh Dave, just because you fancy yourself “cutting edge” doesn’t mean you’re part of the cool kids. That’s not the way it works. I view people who are “big fans” of uber the same as people who just can never see themselves using a PC. “A Mac is all I’ll use.” Believe me, I’m there just rolling my eyes right behind you. You know, I’ve read enough about the practices of uber to know it’s not the right fit for me. I don’t need to use a car service before knowing that I won’t like it. I’ve heard enough stories about people getting ripped off when it’s been raining and they’ve used uber. That’s just not for me. This is enough evidence to show that my reasons are based on logic and not because I want to remain a fuddy duddy who just doesn’t like “anything new, cutting edge and different.”
You pay your state taxes prior to paying your federal taxes, that applies to businesses too. I’m sure the federal govt has interest in seeing this through.
It doesn’t matter what the experience is like if it isn’t operating legally! But FWIW I’ve been in plenty of car services that are just as good or better than Uber.
Because they employ/contract to hundreds of thousands worldwide, which is a significant amount of taxes owed, possible employee pay if they ever made below minimum wage, etc.. Which would blow a giant hole in the companies business model.
Then technically the contractors are employees. There are a number of tests that go into determining employee status, read the court doc here: http://uberlawsuit.com/OrderDenying.pdf
You can see the relationship terms defined by the judge. In short the imbalance of power towards uber once the driver is ‘on the clock’ seems to steer the argument towards employee isntead of contractor status. Regulating quality, time, ability to fire at will etc.. are all hallmarks of an employer employee relationship.
Ditto.
Sounds like you guys just love to pay a premium or whatever “the market will bear” when the weather is crappy or it’s a holiday. Good luck paying out your nose.
I don’t think so. my local car service has all my info on file and offers all different kinds of cars. I wouldn’t even try uber, I just can’t stand them.
Well said.
Its like trying to stop amazon or ebay….