WHY ARE FOOD APPS SUING NYC?

Gun shootings down by 25% in NYC Shootings in NYC dropped by 25% this year, compared to last year with a decline for 13 straight weeks. Also dropping were murders, rapes, burglaries and robberies. Perhaps, Summer does cure all?

Send Chinatown Love Announces New Cookbook! The Volunteer organization is announcing an incredible cookbook to support NYC restaurants. Preorder the book now! Scroll to the bottom to learn more!

Pooop! There’s poop in the water! Nastayyyy. Over 58% of beaches in NY’s 344 beaches tested positive for potentially unsafe levels of sewage or fecal bacteria. This is due to outdated sewage runoff, and not people just going #2 in the water. The sad part? Our beaches still tested better than Florida + West Coast beaches.

NYT replaces Sports Section w The Athletic The Athletic, a sports newsletter purchased by NYT is now replacing its sports section. No layoffs are announced but, you’ll have to pony up more $ on top of the digital subscription to read about sports. Hey, if anyone wants to connect our newsletter with the NYT, let us know.

Last week, Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub each filed a temporary restraining order against NYC to stop a wage increase for delivery drivers that would go into effect, tomorrow, July 12th.

The increase was announced last month, after City Council passed the set of bills to set a living wage that would affect over 60,000 delivery app drivers. The wages would increase from $11 per hour, to $18 per hour, before tips. Quick refresher…Minimum wage in NYC is $15 per hour so their current pay was totally not kosher.

The delivery apps argue that the increased wage would force them to pass the costs on to consumers and raise prices.

This isn’t the first time delivery apps have gotten into hot water over their prices. At the height of the pandemic, the apps were taking a WHOPPING 20 – 30% commission from restaurants (which were already struggling to survive).

According to the City Record, workers made about on average $4.32 per delivery, while delivery companies on average made $4.19 per delivery.

Well, if we look to an earlier gig economy battle – Uber and Lyft had sued to stop a proposed driver pay increase of 9% earlier this year. They ended up losing and Uber/Lyft got approx 22% more expensive.

We expect the food delivery apps will continue to lobby, and pass the costs on to you, the consumer. While legislation is still being fought to limit commissions from the apps, many restaurants simply can’t afford to hire their own delivery staff and rely on the apps for new customers. What do you think will happen?

FROM VOLUNTEER GROUP TO COOKBOOK
60+ RECIPES / 44 RESTAURANTS / 18+ CUISINES / 24 NEIGHBORHOODS

WOW. This is BEYOND impressive! 3 years ago, we did an Instagram Live and wrote a feature on Justin Mckibben, the Chinese Vietnamese founder of a small volunteer group called SEND CHINATOWN LOVE.

Saddened by the struggles of Chinatown restaurants, Justin brought together some friends to help get the restaurants into the digital space, by creating digital gift cards, updating their websites and even creating a database of restaurants for New Yorkers to order from.

Today, the New York-based volunteer organization, is announcing its first print cookbook, featuring home cook-friendly recipes from beloved businesses across Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn!

Send Chinatown Love will be introducing Made Here: Recipes and Reflections from NYC’s Asian Communities, an independent cookbook publication created by over 58 volunteers! All the proceeds from this book will go to supporting the efforts of SEND CHINATOWN LOVE! We’re so proud of the 100% volunteer efforts of this group!

Tap below to preorder the book now!