As Mamdani Targets Amazon, ‘Delivery Protection Act’ Sparks Debate

Upper East Sider Steven Saslow, 79, was walking home from Trader Joe’s last month when an Amazon delivery bike scraped past him and bumped into the packages Saslow was carrying.

Saslow called out for the driver of the electric cargo bike to watch where he was going. Then, the driver turned the bike back around and allegedly deliberately struck Saslow, knocking him down onto the pavement.

The incident, though extreme, was one example of the “reckless conditions on city streets” that Mayor Zohran Mamdani said major delivery corporations like Amazon have avoided taking accountability for. The Delivery Protection Act, a New York City Council bill up for vote on November 1, would change this, according to the mayor.

Amazon, like many other delivery corporations, subcontracts an estimated 5,000 workers who deliver packages from local distribution hubs, known as “last-mile facilities.”

These workers are subcontracted through one of 40 of the local delivery companies Amazon partners with. This system, known as the Delivery Service Partner program, allows packages to arrive faster and often cheaper.

However, it means that those 5,000 workers, including 25-year-old Elian Cedano Garvajal, the driver of the bike that hit Saslow who was charged with two counts of assault, are technically not employees of Amazon.

The Delivery Protections Act, which was sponsored by Queens NYC Council member Tiffany Cabán, would require companies with distribution facilities within the five boroughs to directly hire their delivery workers.

It would also require last-mile facilities “establish minimum safety, training and worker protection standards,” something Saslow thinks could help prevent incidents like his.

“They don’t do proper training,” Saslow said. “They don’t guide them to follow the rules of the road. They’re just given quotas to deliver packages and that’s it.”

The bill has received the support of 30 co-sponsors, the Teamsters Union, and activists including NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who have argued that Amazon subcontractors are subject to high quotas without the benefits of being direct employees.

On August 10, Mamdani added his name to the list of backers, calling subcontracting “exploitative” to workers and saying that the system allows Amazon to skirt the responsibility of enforcing safer standards.

“The Delivery Protection Act is commonsense 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,” Mamdani said.

And the next day, Sen Bernie Sanders chimed in voicing his support for Mamdani’s support of the bill. “Amazon made more than $92 billion in the first half of this year but uses legal loopholes to deny workers their constitutional right to a union<” Sanders posted on X. “I applaud @NYCMayor for supporting legislation holding Amazon accountable for this corporate greed & protecting its drivers.”

Amazon has refuted Mamdani’s and Sander’s claims that the Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program takes advantage of workers.

“This mischaracterizes how the program works,” said Steve Kelly, a spokesperson for Amazon. “DSPs hire, train, pay, and manage their drivers. They run daily standups, set schedules, and handle workplace issues. Drivers know who their employer is.”

Instead, the company said that the bill puts the employment of those 5,000 subcontracted workers at risk and that it was considering relocating its delivery facilities out of the city.

Now, other businesses and groups are also speaking out against the bill.

In June, the consulting firm AKRF conducted a study analyzing the potential impacts of the bill. The study, which was commissioned by The Five Borough Jobs Campaign, a group that receives significant funding from Amazon, said that the bill could put as many as 10,000 jobs in the city at risk and harm local delivery businesses.

It also found that the bill could add on an estimated $5.20 per package, increasing yearly delivery costs by $664 per consumer.

Mark Chiusano, the CEO of Net Zero Logistics, a tri-state area last-mile delivery company, said that he thinks even this estimation is low.

“Based upon my costs and experience to perform a delivery, you need somebody averaging a minimum of probably five, six deliveries an hour to get your cost down to that level when you look at minimum wage, paying for rent, paying for paid time off, healthcare, benefits,” Chiusano said.

Chiusano, whose company is a member of the New York Delivers Coalition, which also has ties to Amazon, has read the bill. He said as he has interpreted it, the bill would impact dozens of businesses beyond just the major delivery corporations.

“I’ve never seen a more concerning bill than the Delivery Protection Act,” Chiusano said. “It would affect any logistics company, and I think it’s really important that the public and government understand that.”

Chiusano said to take Best Buy, for example. Say Best Buy has a storage warehouse in the city that it also ships out of. Chiusano said that the current language in the bill would require Best Buy to directly employ the people working in the facility.

“There are no guarantees, and there is nothing legally that would bind a Best Buy to hire the people that their logistics company currently uses to perform those services,” Chiusano said. “And then that logistics company could very well likely go out of business.”

Mamdani said the bill would require that last-mile facilities get licenses from the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

The city tracks at least 50 last-mile facilities in the city, 18 of which opened within the last decade. According to a 2025 report from the Office of the Comptroller, “78 percent of nearby areas experienced an increase in injury-causing crashes after last-mile facilities opened.”

The city has used statistics displaying increasing incidents of accidents as further justification for the bill, especially as e-bike accidents are on the rise. While the city said that Amazon uses the DSP to shield itself from the repercussions of these accidents, the company has pushed back.

“The idea that the DSP program somehow leaves drivers, customers, or members of the community without recourse, or that the DSP program is somehow designed to enable anyone to skirt the law, doesn’t hold up,” Kelly said. “None of the normal avenues for accountability go away - law enforcement, regulators, and the courts all still apply.”

However, with firsthand experience, Saslow said some change is needed. He said the circumstances are no different than the government regulating tobacco because of its harm to communities.

“If you look at all the stats and the amount of accidents that have occurred and the damage to the community, I would say public safety outweighs keeping costs down on Amazon packages,” Saslow said.

After receiving stitches, Saslow said he is lucky to be doing better now.

“It’s the other 70-year-old that’ll get knocked down with a concussion or be traumatized for the rest of their life,” Saslow said. “That’s really happening too much all over.”