Taxi boss hired by ride-hail company once branded ‘illegal’ by former agency

The most recent head of the city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission is taking a new job with a ride-hailing tech company — just weeks after TLC branded it as “illegal.”

David Do is jumping to Empower as senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs shortly after exiting the agency that oversees the city’s sprawling taxi and for-hire vehicle industry — where he had served as commissioner since 2022.

“Empower is an unlicensed, illegal base that puts both drivers and passengers at risk, and we are committed to holding it accountable,” Jason Kersten, a TLC spokesperson, said in a statement. “Upon confirming that the former commissioner, who was hired under the Eric Adams administration, just took a job with Empower, we immediately reported it to the Conflicts of Interest Board for investigation.”

The tech company has been making inroads in the city recently while trying to cut into Uber and Lyft’s grip on the for-hire vehicle business with cheaper rides. It bills itself as a pro-worker app with a monthly membership fee and claims that workers can set their own fares and take home 100% of each fare.

The bombshell dropped Thursday toward the end of a City Council confirmation hearing for Midori Valdivia, who Mayor Zohran Mamdani named in January as Do’s successor at the TLC.

During the City Council hearing, Valdivia was critical of Empower, which the TLC has said does not meet TLC safety standards for drivers or passengers and does not assure that passengers are “adequately insured in the event of a crash.”

“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 said.

Then the meeting was upended by the virtual testimony of Joshua Sear, the chief executive officer of Empower.

“While I am admittedly disappointed that she commented on Empower without having ever spoken to anyone from the company, based on everything else that I heard from her today, I am hopeful she will be a strong champion for drivers,” Sear said.

Calling drivers “some of the hardest working folks in our community,” Sear then slipped in that Do is moving on to his company, which has quickly come into the sights of the city for its push to cut into Uber and Lyft’s business.

The company bills itself as offering a different model from its competitors’, one that allows drivers to “truly run their own businesses,” it says. But TLC has targeted the company on an “illegal apps” website warning that services “such as Empower and WhatsApp Messenger are unlicensed software platforms that serve bases” by connecting drivers with trips.

For-hire vehicles from Uber and Lyft account for more than 82,000 of the more than 115,000 TLC-licensed vehicles in the city, according to agency data.

“Working for themselves using our software, TLC-licensed drivers are making thousands of dollars more per month than they were working for Uber or Lyft,” Sear said in his testimony Thursday.

TLC officials countered that drivers aligned with Empower are at risk of losing their licenses and are subject to enforcement actions by TLC police.

THE CITY reported that Do earned his TLC driver’s license soon after taking the wheel at the agency in 2022, occasionally taking unsuspecting passengers for rides as part of his efforts to learn more about what drivers encounter on the job. TLC would occasionally highlight his stints behind the wheel in “Commissioner Cab” social media videos.

Bhairavi Desai, the head of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, told THE CITY that Do’s surprise jump to Empower is “equally disappointing and infuriating.”

“Empower was looking to take the spotlight away from the drivers and turn a serious hearing into a circus with their breaking news,” Desai wrote in memo to alliance members. “Empower is not a lifeline for drivers, it’s a trap.”

A spokesperson for Empower said in a statement that every driver using the company’s software “is a TLC-licensed driver using a TLC-licensed vehicle.”

“We look forward to working with the Mamdani administration to ensure TLC-licensed drivers have the same civil rights as all other licensed professionals in New York and that New Yorkers have access to affordable and safe transportation,” the statement read.

In his virtual testimony, the company’s CEO praised Do as a fit for its business model.

“He, like myself, understands that drivers in New York City are tired of feeling unheard and disempowered,” Sear said. “They want the ability work for themselves.”