NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (Our New York News) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says city enforcement of delivery-app tipping rules has produced an estimated $104 million in additional tips for delivery workers since January.
The rules affect apps such as Uber Eats and DoorDash. They require the companies to make tipping options easier to see, including showing the option before checkout and offering customers a suggested tip of at least 10%, a custom amount or no tip.
Mamdani highlighted the figure at a July 30 press conference and said, “This is only the beginning.” The announcement drew criticism because the New York City Council passed the measure in 2025, before Mamdani became mayor.
The dispute is partly about credit. The Council approved the law during former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. Adams did not sign or veto it, and the measure became law after 30 days, according to reports citing the legislation. The rules took effect Jan. 26, during Mamdani’s administration.
What changed in the apps?
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection said Uber Eats and DoorDash had hidden tip buttons and set default tips below 10% before the rules took effect.
Under the new requirements, a customer must be shown a tipping option before completing an order. The customer can select a suggested gratuity of at least 10%, enter a different amount or choose not to tip.
The city says the earlier app designs contributed to a 79% decline in delivery-worker tips. DCWP estimated that the changes cost workers about $550 million in tips.
City officials compared average tips in the four weeks before and after implementation. They reported that the average rose from $1.18 per delivery to $2.29 per delivery.
Those figures are estimates from city officials and DCWP. The underlying methodology was not included in the public information summarized for this report.
How much money do workers receive?
Mamdani said the enforcement effort had “put $104 million back in delivery workers’ pockets.” The city said about 70,000 delivery workers were on track to receive an average additional $2,287 in annual tips, according to figures reported by Business Insider.
The $104 million estimate refers to additional tips since the rules took effect in January. It is not the amount of money collected by the city. The money comes from customers’ gratuities through delivery apps.
The city has not presented the figure as a payment made directly by the mayor’s office. Rather, it is an estimate of the change in tips after the apps were required to alter how tipping options appeared.
Why are critics objecting?
Critics said Mamdani’s announcement overstated his role because the City Council passed the measure before he took office. Sam E. Antar, one critic identified in coverage of the announcement, wrote that the Council enacted the delivery-app laws in 2025 before Mamdani became mayor.
The timeline leaves two separate questions: who approved the policy and who enforced it. The Council passed the measure in 2025. Mamdani’s administration began enforcing the requirements after they took effect Jan. 26.
Mamdani has defended the announcement by focusing on enforcement. At the press conference, he said the administration had been enforcing laws already on the books to put money back into the pockets of working New Yorkers.
Critics have also argued that the rules could pressure customers to tip more. That argument has been made by DoorDash and Uber in legal challenges to the rules. The available information does not establish whether the rules have increased customers’ total costs or identify the current status of those cases.
What happens next?
The rules remain a local New York City policy overseen by DCWP. Their effect depends on how delivery apps display tipping choices and how customers respond.
For delivery workers, the city’s reported results point to higher average tips after implementation. For customers, the rules change when and how tipping choices appear during an order. For Mamdani, the political question is whether credit for the results belongs mainly to the Council that passed the law, the administration that enforced it or both.
The city’s $104 million estimate is therefore best understood as an enforcement claim tied to a law approved before Mamdani’s mayoralty, not as legislation newly created by his administration.
