MOHAMED FARGHALY

mfarghaly@queensledger.com

The Queens Chamber of Commerce hosted a roundtable discussion with local restaurant owners, community members and Dashers to discuss their negative experiences from the unintended consequences of New York City’s extreme minimum pay rate for delivery workers. The roundtable, organized in partnership with DoorDash, featured discussions around the impacts being felt by Queens small businesses and food delivery workers, along with how more proposed bills in the NYC Council could exacerbate these problems.

The event was hosted at Queens-based restaurant Rincon Salvadoreño, a family-owned Salvadoran restaurant in Jamaica, where owner Elena Barcenes shared her own personal experience with the negative impacts of the City’s policy.

“As the largest business association in Queens representing over 1,400 organizations, we were proud to facilitate this event with local Queens restaurant owners and Dashers for an honest conversation about the impacts of New York City’s minimum pay policy for delivery workers,” said Thomas J. Grech, President & Chief Executive Officer at the Queens Chamber of Commerce. “We’d like to thank all of the participants in today’s discussion who shared how the policy has impacted their livelihood, whether that is through a decline in orders as a small business or a decrease in earnings as a Dasher, and we hope local policymakers will hear out these concerns.”

“New York City’s restaurant industry has been hit hard by the impacts of the City’s minimum pay rate for delivery workers. My restaurant, Rincon Salvadoreño, has lost twenty percent of delivery orders since the rule was put into place Barcenes said. “Thank you to the Queens Chamber of Commerce for helping us to make our voices heard and organizing this important discussion.”

The City’s minimum pay rules have cost millions of dollars in lost orders for local restaurants and lost earning opportunities for Dashers. Based on DoorDash’s estimates, the rule will cost Queens restaurants $19 million annually and the number of new Dashers in Queens has fallen by 37% compared to before the new minimum pay rate took effect. In the first two months since the implementation of the minimum pay rate, NYC restaurants and other local merchants lost $17 million in revenue and NYC consumers have placed an estimated 850,000 fewer orders on the Door Dash Marketplace than they would have had the market remained unchanged.

Joe Mele, a delivery driver from St. Albans, expressed concerns about the impact of New York City’s minimum wage policy on gig workers. He noted that the increased regulation and formalization of delivery work, which was originally intended to be a flexible, part-time job, is reducing opportunities for drivers. Mele explained that the policy has led to fewer orders and less income, forcing him to work longer hours and travel all the way out to Long Island for work.

“I actually head out to Long Island, get orders, and I sit up there, and that’s not good for me,” Mele said. “But what’s key is being able to when you turn your phone and the app on, is to be able to work from start to where you want to finish.”

He emphasized that the flexibility to choose when and where to work is crucial for gig workers. Mele also pointed out that while tips are important, the key to making a good income is having a steady stream of orders. He worries that the new regulations could negatively affect tipping attitudes and overall earnings for delivery drivers.

Janelle Christine, a Dasher from Flushing, raised concerns about recent changes to delivery regulations and their impact on drivers. She described how initial regulations led to increased earnings, but subsequent changes have made it harder to receive orders and affected her ability to work efficiently in her area. As a result, Christine has had to travel further for work, increasing her fuel costs, vehicle mileage, and maintenance expenses.

“All of this also impacts how much gas I pay, how much mileage on the vehicle, and the maintenance of the vehicle,” Christine said. “So, you’re talking about hidden expenses now that would not have been calculated previously to actual dashing.”

The Queens Chamber of Commerce hosted a roundtable to address the negative impacts of New York City’s minimum pay rate for delivery workers.

Christine also mentioned issues with parking, noting that she has received tickets while trying to deliver food. She suggested that temporary parking permits could alleviate this problem. While she acknowledged that tips remain consistent, she emphasized that the regulatory changes and additional costs are significant concerns that need addressing. Christine also pointed out that having the option to pause orders for breaks could improve working conditions for Dashers.

New York State Senator Jessica Ramos of District 13 addressed the economic implications of recent delivery regulations during the discussion. Ramos highlighted the challenges faced by restaurants, particularly in New York City, where profit margins are already slim.

Ramos noted that the requirement for restaurants to adapt their menus for delivery platforms like Door Dash can be financially burdensome, as it may necessitate significant changes to their operations.

“Profitability wise, however, if a third of your revenue is coming through this channel, professional businesses are heavily revenue dependent,” Ramos said. “You need money to keep it running so you will keep producing profit, list sales and generally at the rate, a lot of that goes up before the restaurant business. The profitability of the software company is quite different, right? So, I think we have to take that into consideration.”

She also emphasized the disparity in profitability between restaurant businesses and delivery platform companies, suggesting that the economic pressures on restaurants are distinct from those faced by the platforms themselves.

Ramos brought attention to the underrepresented Latino, Asian, and African American workers in the delivery sector, many of whom face limited economic opportunities and rely heavily on gig work.