Relay, one of city's major delivery companies, is shutting down its operations in New York City rather than comply with worker protection measures being carried out by the Mamdani administration — and thousands of delivery workers will lose their jobs.
The company, a business-to-business delivery app as opposed to a phone app that hungry customers use, sent an email to all its workers on Tuesday that their jobs would be terminated as of April 1. The company recommended that its workers "begin transitioning to another third-party delivery app," adding uncharitably, "some platforms may have waitlists."
Relay's parent company, Wonder, also owns GrubHub and Seamless, but Relay's email doesn't offer workers the opportunity to be switched onto the sister apps.
Relay was launched by Alex Blum and Mike Chevett in 2014 — long before UberEats and DoorDash dominated the industry. Independent restaurants contracted with Relay to facilitate deliveries, which saved local restaurants money that would otherwise be spent on a delivery worker's salary.
But in 2021, the City Council passed its delivery worker minimum wage, though Relay was exempted because it already offered workers a base pay and its business model was different from the other apps.
But in April 2024, Wonder announced it would buy Relay. Last June, delivery workers protested outside of Wonder's headquarters alleging that the company was unfairly deactivating workers without cause.
Later that month, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection announced a settlement with Relay. The settlement of $200,000 for workers who experienced violations of their right to set maximum trip distances and $20,000 in civil penalties. In addition, Relay agreed to start complying with the delivery worker minimum wage.
But the company suggested that its New York City shutdown is related to the city's worker protections.
"Relay is no longer able to run a sustainable business in our key market of New York City," the company said in its email to workers. "As a result, Relay must end delivery operations in NYC."
One labor law expert sees the termination of Relay as an example of the problems with market consolidation.
"The city’s delivery economy is thriving, proving that it’s possible to sustain a profitable food delivery business while paying workers the minimum wage," said Dan Ocampo, an attorney with the National Employment Law Project. "Instead, it’s delivery workers paying the price for market consolidation—first through illegal deactivations last year, now through mass termination—as new parent company Wonder tightens its grip.”
Relay confirmed the shutdown in an email to Streetsblog, adding that it is "grateful to the many riders who delivered with us over the past decade."
One Relay worker called the demise of Relay as "another sign of late-stage capitalism."
"Make as much money abusing labor for the sake of ‘disrupting’ until there's oversight stopping you then move on to the next unregulated loophole to screw over working class people,” said the worker Kae Cook.
Relay differs from its delivery app peers in its business to business model. Customers don't download a Relay app and place orders. Instead, restaurants and other app companies use Relay to facilitate deliveries.
The minimum pay standard is just one of a handful of bills passed under the previous mayor and City Council that the Mamdani administration has been clear are a top priority for enforcement.
As of last month, grocery delivery app companies like Instacart must pay their workers the city's minimum pay standard of $21.44 per hour, and all app companies must give customers the option to tip at checkout and give workers access to discounted e-bike subscription memberships or trade-in programs. More working protections passed by the City Council last year go into effect in early 2027, prohibiting the apps from firing workers without cause.
The app industry, which puts over 80,000 private contractors on bikes, e-bikes, and mopeds onto city streets, relies on public space to rake in profits.
