New Bill Could Require NYC Restaurants to Provide Bathroom Access to Delivery Workers

City Council bills look to provide relief for food delivery workers

Following months of protest over issues like bathroom access and minimum pay, food delivery workers across the city may soon see some relief. A coalition of City Council members — Carlina Rivera, Carlos Menchaca, Justin Brannan, Brad Lander, and Margaret Chin — is expected to introduce a series of bills on Thursday targeted at improving conditions for the city’s roughly 80,000 food delivery workers. The City first reported on the legislation.

The proposed legislation includes measures that would require third-party delivery apps to pay workers at least once per week; allow workers to set maximum delivery distances for orders; create minimum per-trip payments; and provide workers with free insulated delivery bags, which workers currently pay for out-of-pocket. One of the hallmarks of the package, a bill introduced by Council member Rivera, would fine restaurants and bars up to $100 for refusing restroom access to workers delivering their food.

The legislation package comes after months of protest by delivery workers across the city, who say they have been treated like “insects” despite being classified as essential workers, according to the City. The leaders of the movement, an organization of mostly Guatemalan and Mexican immigrants called Los Deliveristas Unidos, has been calling on elected officials and delivery apps to improve conditions for delivery workers throughout the pandemic.

In other news

— Local group Send Chinatown Love has created a community cookbook as part of a fundraiser for Chinatown businesses. Around the Roundtable: Recipes for Chinatown Favorites includes recipes from 886 and Wing Hing Seafood Restaurant.

— This collection of ceramic animals, once a staple of the dining rooms at Le Cirque and Osteria del Circo, could be yours. Artwork, furniture, and other items from the now-closed restaurants are up for auction through May 12.

— It’s one of the most consequential mayoral races in years, but “New Yorkers’ minds are elsewhere,” the New York Times declares.

— After temporarily closing its doors in December, Tribeca Grill reopens tonight for dinner, according to co-owner Drew Nieporent.

— How New York City went from zero outdoor community fridges in January 2020 to more than 100 a year later, explained.

— Times critic Pete Wells identifies as a “goat guy” in his latest review of West African restaurant Nneji.

— Gothamist partakes in the 4/20 bake sale at chef Matthew Tilden’s forthcoming 7 Grain Army in Williamsburg.

— Our favorite flour tortilla in New York: