The food delivery apps are fighting back
Doordash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats are banding together to sue New York City a mere two weeks after the City Council voted to permanently cap the fees the companies can charge restaurants at 15 percent. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court on Thursday evening, seeks to prevent city officials from enforcing that measure. The three companies filed a similar motion against the city of San Francisco in July.
The city’s fee cap, first enacted as a temporary measure last spring, has cost the food delivery companies hundreds of millions of dollars combined, they claim in the suit. In August, Uber Eats told the Wall Street Journal that it had lost more than $60 million in New York City due to the legislation, but it’s not clear how those losses piece into the company’s larger growth. Doordash’s revenue has soared during the pandemic, to $1.2 billion in the second quarter of this year, up 83 percent from the year before, according to Crain’s New York Business, while its total number of orders increased by 69 percent over the same time.
The lawsuit against New York City comes exactly two weeks after council members voted to permanently cap the fees that food delivery companies can charge restaurants, a measure that Mayor Bill de Blasio later committed to signing into law. The bill, which caps delivery and non-delivery fees at a combined 20 percent, is an extension of the temporary measure passed by the City Council at the height of the pandemic last spring.
In other news
— Baar Baar is hosting a one-night fundraiser next week to benefit the World Central Kitchen’s pandemic relief efforts in India. The five-course, $130-per-person dinner is a collaboration between Baar Baar chef Sujan Sarkar, Oxomoco owner Justin Bazdarich, Sungchul Shim of Kochi, and others.
— Brown sugar bubble tea shop Xing Fu Tang is headed to the East Village for its second New York City location. The Taiwan-based chain with more than 100 locations internationally first opened at 40-52 Main Street, in Flushing, last year.
— Residents in Prospect Park South have launched a petition and fundraiser to support Kwesi Donald, a fruit vendor who the Parks Department has attempted to shut down for illegally operating on the corner of Ocean and Parkside avenues.
— Roy Shvartzapel of the exceedingly popular Panettone by Roy will be popping up at Dominique Ansel Workshop from now through Sunday, serving a version he’s collaborated on with Ansel: a double chocolate version studded with caramel and candied orange peels.
— Is McDonald’s opening a location of its McCafe coffee shop chain in Long Island City? LIC Talk has some of the answers.
— Happy Friday:
Nachos are so peaceful. A salad you can eat with your hands. Finally I can relax.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) June 6, 2021