City Council lefties tackle ‘affordability' by driving up grocery prices. Brilliant
It passed a measure (by a veto-proof majority) virtually guaranteeing grocery prices will shoot up — specifically, by requiring app-based delivery companies to shell out a minimum of about $21 an hour to delivery workers.
The companies will just pass on their added costs to the public, driving business down in the process.
The union representing the city's first responders say under the new rates, rookie FDNY EMTs — whose starting pay is $39,386 — will earn less than illegal-immigrant deliveristas.
And who knows how many of these delivery workers will soon be out of jobs, thanks to this bill: When the council, in December 2023, bumped up the minimum wage to $18 for app-based restaurant delivery workers, menu prices jumped 12% and app fees spikes 58%.
Consumers spent 10% more on deliveries the next quarter than during the same quarter the year before. (Inflation was just 4% in 2023.)
But not only were customers screwed, so were the people the hike was supposed to help: the workers.
For starters, the average tip amount plunged by $2.64.
Worse, many lost their jobs: Active worker accounts on delivery apps fell 9% in Q1 of 2024 over Q1 in 2023; UberEats couriers sank by 12,000.
This time, some in the industry are projecting the hikes will push up grocery-delivery costs by 46% on New Yorkers directly, and 13% on local grocery stores.
Can you think of a more direct assault on 'affordability'?
Actually, we can think of one — and it'll be plain as day if socialist Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor and tries to make the city 'affordable.'
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Politico
29 minutes ago
- Politico
2 cases of eminent domain
Good Monday morning! I'm back after a week's vacation. Thanks to my colleagues for filling in here. I went to Buffalo for a bit. Jealous? If you knew what beef on weck tastes like, you would be. I avoided working on a busy week. I missed my 10th anniversary writing this newsletter, the lieutenant governor choices as well as the hubbub over Habba. But at least right before I left I laid out a scenario that wound up taking place. It looks like Habba's back in now, barring a court challenge. But I'm still not completely sure. So stay tuned. But for now, I want to riff on two big New Jersey stories, one of which became national news and a cause celebre on the right, and one that has gotten very little amplification outside of the state. Late last week, CNN became the latest national news outlet to feature the saga of the working farm in Cranbury, surrounded by warehouses, that the Democratic-led town wants to seize to meet its state-imposed affordable housing mandate. This controversy has been reported on for a couple months, making waves on the right — but drawing protest from at least one New Jersey environmental group as well — and even caught the attention of the Trump administration. I get it. Even if the fact that the owners of this 175-year-old 'family farm' actually live in New Mexico and lease it to farmers — something usually buried in stories about it, if mentioned at all — it's hard to be on the side of a government seizing some of the last farmland in the Central Jersey suburbs. Meanwhile, in deep red Toms River, the mayor is beginning to back off his plan to seize Episcopal church-owned property it wanted to use for a 17-bed homeless shelter to instead build things like recreational fields and pickleball courts. This story was well-covered by the New Jersey press, especially the Asbury Park Press. And there was lots of protest. 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Disputes over turf have spilled onto local blogs and into public meetings, where some of the village's powerful youth sports leagues — there are at least 10 — have lobbied for replacing grass fields at schools and parks with synthetic turf to give their athletes more chances to play, rain or shine. 'It is a sports-crazed town with lots of sports-crazed, Type A parents and sports-crazed, Type A kids,' said Mark Sullivan, a Ridgewood resident who coached softball and baseball, which his daughter and son played … Scientists have presented their findings about the chemicals in the fields to village officials. 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The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Senate GOP quietly urges House to shift approach on shutdown talk
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The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Nevada attorney general launches bid to unseat Lombardo
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