How the clampdown on Uber affects Brooklyn
The costs and benefits hit home here and in Queens, where struggling drivers live but many residents lack mass transit
City Hall chambers were overflowing Wednesday afternoon as City Council members voted overwhelmingly to pass a package of five bills to regulate Uber and other ride-hailing companies, making New York the first large U.S. city to cap the growth of new for-hire vehicles and guarantee the drivers a minimum wage.
The legislation is an effort to freeze the disruption caused by the explosive growth of for-hire vehicles on the road: 100,000, up from 63,000 in 2015. The sudden abundance of cars has undermined the livelihoods of drivers, six of whom have committed suicide in recent months, as well as increased traffic congestion and vehicle emissions.
The costs and benefits of the new laws will disproportionately affect Brooklyn and Queens, given their geographic sprawl and diverse populations. On the one hand, the growth in for-hire vehicles (FHVs) has been a boon to residents of far-flung neighborhoods, often remote from mass transit, and to people of color who have often been discriminated against by yellow cabs.