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What Intro 518 Gets Wrong About Independent Delivery Businesses

11/06/2026

Good policy regulates conduct. Intro 518 regulates business relationships.

The headlines say Intro 518, a proposed New York City bill, is about Amazon. The bill itself says something broader: that the city, not businesses, should decide who can contract with whom. It targets large companies, but independent delivery businesses could pay a steep price.

Over five years and twelve million deliveries, Staten Island entrepreneur Krista Parise has built JNK Logistics LLC in the community where she grew up. She serves longtime neighbors and even her former elementary school. Since launching in 2021, the company has employed as many as 120 drivers, dispatchers, and operations staff, most of them Staten Island natives.

Parise recently made her case in her local paper, explaining why she believes the bill threatens that business. Under the proposal, how well she runs her company doesn't decide its future. Whether her customers are still permitted to hire her does.

What Intro 518 would change

Intro 518, known as the Delivery Protection Act, would require operators of certain last-mile facilities to obtain a city license and meet safety, training, and employment requirements. Those operators would generally have to directly employ the workers performing core delivery and warehouse services. Contracting with third-party providers for those services would generally be prohibited, subject to exceptions.

The proposal has more than 30 Council sponsors and Mayor Mamdani's backing. It remains pending amid concerns about small businesses and consumer prices, as well as a review by the city's Law Department.

Supporters argue that large retailers control delivery routes and workloads while using contracted companies to avoid responsibility for working conditions. But Intro 518 would generally require drivers to be employed by the facility operator, even when they already work as employees of an independent delivery company. Delivery companies that directly employ their drivers and meet wage and safety standards could still lose the contracts they depend on.

What owners are saying

Independent business owners aren't necessarily opposed to the bill's stated goals. In a recent interview with SCI, Rudy Cazares, owner of Cazar Logistics, said, “For all the things this bill wants to address, I completely understand that. I just don't agree with the method.”

Cazares, whose company delivers for Amazon, wants lawmakers to hear from owners: “If we are talking about increasing pay, additional safety measures, let's have that conversation. Lawmakers, we invite you to come to our delivery stations.” At the October 22 rally near City Hall, he warned the bill would put his company out of business, ABC7 reported.

The bill includes a provision requiring facility operators to offer employment to affected subcontractor workers before hiring others. It offers affected workers a path to continued employment but does not guarantee the survival of the independent businesses behind those jobs. The bill could also narrow the path to business ownership for future entrepreneurs.

Chicago is next

Chicago has introduced its own Delivery Protection Act, with supporters pointing to New York's proposal as a model. The Chicago bill received a City Council hearing in September, showing that this debate is no longer limited to one city. Independent businesses shouldn't wait until these proposals reach their market to make their voices heard.

What you can do

Protecting workers and protecting independent businesses shouldn't be competing goals. The best time for lawmakers to hear from the companies affected is before these bills become law, not after.

  • Contact your representatives. Explain how restrictions on contracting relationships could affect your business, its workers, and its customers. Whether you're in New York, Chicago, or elsewhere, your perspective matters.

  • Invite lawmakers to see your operation. Show them how your delivery business works, the standards it follows, and the people whose livelihoods depend on it.

  • Share your story. Tell your community, local media, and social media followers what your business has built, the people it supports, and what contracting restrictions could put at risk.

SCI supports stronger worker protections and safety standards without restricting opportunities for responsible independent delivery businesses.

Regulate the conduct. Leave the relationships alone.

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