Another app-funded City Council Speaker?
This past election cycle, the app-giant Uber spent more than $250,000 on the two frontrunner candidates to lead the City Council — in a blatant attempt to buy the influence of a position with control over which bills get voted on.
The company’s political action committee, Uber NY PAC, spent $118,000 on the re-election campaign of Council Member Crystal Hudson (D-Crown Heights) and $143,129 on the campaign of her Upper East Side Council colleague, Julie Menin. The two women are vying to replace term-limited Adrienne Adams as Speaker – a position that wields the enormous power to choose which bills advance and which are quietly killed.
App companies have spent broadly to buy influence or, at least, access, throughout this campaign cycle. Donations from these companies through independent PACs are a wager that the recipient will take their concerns into account.
Hudson did not directly respond to questions about how Uber's spending might influence her policy priorities, but told Streetsblog, "My record speaks for itself."
"I’ve supported legislation that would do everything from expand daylighting citywide and reduce speed limits in the five boroughs to other bills that strengthen protections and wage standards for app-based delivery workers. I’ve also worked to expand the number of protected bike lanes in and around my district; establish new community-backed open streets; and reduce the speed of e-bikes being sold to address citywide safety concerns," she said in a statement.
Menin, a centrist, did not respond to Streetsblog's request at all.
Menin's campaign also got $27,000 from DoorDash's PAC, Local Economies Forward.
Menin also had individual campaign contributions in 2024 from notorious safe-streets foes. Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, who offered free legal services to try to stop a bike lane on Prospect Park West, donated $1,000 to her campaign. And Anthony Argento, who indicted for bribing an Adams official to stop a protected bike lane project, gave her campaign $1,600.
And Menin, who is the chair of the Council's worker protection committee, has not signed on as a sponsor to the delivery worker deactivation bill, Intro. 1332, which would bar app companies like Uber and DoorDash from kicking workers off the app without a stated reason and create a clear path to appeal for workers who do end up de-platformed. It is unclear if the donations from the two app giants played any role in Menin's decision.
Unlike Menin, Hudson, a member of the Council's Progressive caucus, is signed onto the deactivation bill. She is also the choice of street safety advocates.
“Crystal is somebody we have endorsed every time she runs. We think she would be a good ally,” said Eric McClure, executive director of StreetsPAC. "We endorsed Julie in the general election in 2021, but I don’t think she has been as aligned on policy where we are concerned as much as Crystal has."
For example, Hudson said she would, as Speaker, ban parking near intersections to increase visibility, a treatment known as “daylighting.” Speaker Adams stalled a bill that would do so, ultimately burying it.
Hudson said the daylighting bill "holds particular significance for me and my district following the tragic death of Kamari Hughes in 2023."
Menin’s record on street safety bills in the council is mixed.
Menin is signed on to the daylighting bill, but she has consistently sided with the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, a group of Manhattan anti-cycling activists who want e-bikes to be licensed and banned from parks, and are opposed to street redesigns that prioritize safety over parking.
EVSA members canvassed for Menin this election cycle and the organization praises her on social media for co-sponsoring Intro 606, the e-bike licensing bill, and Intro 60, the bill to ban e-bikes from parks. The EVSA consistently accuses the “bike lobby” of taking donations from Uber, but has seemingly no problem with the same company supporting Menin’s campaign. [Full disclosure: Streetsblog, a non-profit newsroom, gets no money from Uber, DoorDash or other app companies.]
“Clearly [Menin] is a reflection of her constituency,” said McClure. “It’s going to be important for any Speaker to take a citywide perspective, and we believe a citywide perspective should bend towards making it easier to walk, bike, and take transit.”
The Uber bump
It is illegal for independent expenditures to coordinate with a campaign, but enforcing this in nearly impossible. And once a campaign is over, the fingerprints of big spending become clear.
In her failed mayoral run, Speaker Adams was supported by "Competent New York" a union super PAC that was actually funded by DoorDash, which threw millions at city races. Speaker Adams, who made a big show of standing up to Instacart's anti-minimum wage lobbying campaign, has blocked two bills that would end the app-company favored practice of firing workers without cause. One Council Member has accused her of taking DoorDash’s side since the donation.
“What we have in the City Council right now are hypocrites,” said Council Member Chris Marte (D-Chinatown), who is also running for Speaker. “I am here to call out the hypocrites, tell them to get on this bill, and tell this Speaker to stop listening to the special interests.”
Marte later clarified to Streetsblog that he was referring to the campaign donations from DoorDash to Adams. Marte, along with the other declared Speaker candidates — Amanda Farías (D-Soundview) and Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Rockaway) — did not get any money from Uber's PAC.
Uber did not respond to our questions.
