Mayor Zohran Mamdani says city-owned grocery stores will offer essential food items at reduced prices. / X/@NYCMayor

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Aug. 10 announced his support for controversial legislation that would crack down on the subcontracting model that allows corporations like Amazon to evade responsibility for dangerous working conditions and unsafe streets.

Sponsored by New York City Council Member Tiffany L. Cabán, the Delivery Protection Act would create a licensing system for certain last-mile warehouses and distribution facilities while establishing new safety, training and labor standards.

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Backing the legislation, Mamdani in a post on X said, “If it looks like an Amazon delivery and drives like an Amazon delivery, then it's an Amazon delivery, right? Not according to Amazon.”

He said big companies like Amazon have built a vast network of subcontractors who deliver their packages while shielding them from accountability.

“It leaves our workers unprotected and our streets less safe. It's time for a change. I'm proud to support the Delivery Protection Act to crack down on exploitative subcontracting and build an economy that works for everyone,” he said.
 

If it looks like an Amazon delivery and drives like an Amazon delivery, then it's an Amazon delivery, right? Not according to Amazon.

Big companies like Amazon have built a vast network of subcontractors who deliver their packages while shielding them from accountability.

It… pic.twitter.com/6hQVV8GoNH

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) August 10, 2026

Major corporations like Amazon have built billion-dollar businesses on a subcontracting system designed to shield them from responsibility. Through delivery subcontractors, corporations dictate hiring standards, delivery routes, steep productivity quotas and workplace expectations while denying that the workers making those deliveries are employees. The result is a system that leaves workers vulnerable and corporations free to avoid accountability for reckless conditions on city streets, his office said in a statement.

The legislation would also hold the company operating the facility, such as Amazon, responsible for employing the workers performing core services, such as delivery. That would give the city the tools to regulate last-mile operations and ensure major companies like Amazon are responsible for the consequences of the business decisions they make.

“Corporations like Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability through a system of exploitative subcontracting. As last-mile delivery centers have exploded across New York, so too have traffic accidents and worker injuries,” he said.

The Delivery Protection Act is common-sense regulation that protects delivery workers, safeguards the communities where these facilities operate and ensures that the corporations benefiting from workers' labor are responsible for the consequences of their business practices, said Mayor Mamdani.

He said New Yorkers should not be forced to subsidize corporate profits with less-safe streets and more precarious jobs.

“The people who make these companies run deserve dignity, stability and a safe workplace. It's time to end the subcontracting model that puts profits over people and build an economy that works for working New Yorkers,” he said.

Last-mile facilities are warehouses where packages are sorted and dispatched for final delivery.

Since 2017, at least 18 large last-mile facilities have opened across New York City, including 11 since 2020. Although major delivery companies like Amazon do not always employ the drivers working out of these facilities directly, they nonetheless exert significant control over their actions and workplaces.

These facilities have also been linked to worsening traffic safety. A 2025 report from the Office of the Comptroller found that 78% of nearby areas experienced an increase in injury-causing crashes after last-mile facilities opened. In Maspeth, crashes near major FedEx and Amazon warehouses increased by 53% and 48%, respectively, while a cluster of facilities in East New York also experienced sharp increases in crashes within a half-mile radius.

The Delivery Protection Act would require last-mile facilities to obtain licenses from DCWP and establish minimum safety, training and worker protection standards. The legislation would also ensure companies are accountable for the quotas, schedules and routes that shape working conditions and affect public safety.

Mayor Mamdani's support for the Delivery Protection Act builds on his administration's broader effort to challenge concentrated corporate power and deliver a fairer economy for working New Yorkers.

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