There’s so much going on it’s difficult to decide where to start. Gov. Hochul said she has a plan to help fix the teetering insurance industry, even as spiking gas prices will likely – at the very least – erase any financial gains her reforms could yield for drivers. Crime in New York City is down, although we’re on the precipice of WW3. Plus, some other pretty weird things happened this past month that are probably worth mentioning.
Let’s start with some good news…
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the nomination of Midori Valdivia to lead the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) as Chair and Commissioner. Her record includes serving as deputy commissioner for finance and administration at the TLC, chief of staff to the chair/CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and senior advisor to the executive director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Industry experience is essential to properly fill that role, but perhaps just as importantly, like her new boss, Valdivia has a history of supporting our industry’s drivers. Her “worker-centered policies” have included working on the TLC’s first-in-the-nation driver pay study, and she told media outlet Documented that if she is confirmed, one of her first agenda items would be reexamining the medallion debt relief program to ensure it’s providing assistance to as many drivers as possible.
Suffice it so say, I think she is a good choice, particularly from a driver perspective.
Another piece of good news: Gov. Kathy Hochul has listed auto insurance reforms as a top priority this year. Her plan would seek to rein in rampant insurance fraud, strengthen laws against participating parties – like medical facilities and shady lawyers – and mandate insurance discounts for safe drivers, with extra savings going to drivers who use technologies like dashcams and telematics.
The Black Car Fund (BCF) also recently added new and upgraded benefits for their covered drivers, which help protect their finances and health. Starting this month, drivers who signed up for their free benefits at https://ny.driversbenefits.org/en now get the following:
- Free stroke, heart disease and colorectal cancer screenings
- Income protection during a hospital stay through the BCF’s Hospital Indemnity Plan, which pays drivers every day they spend in a hospital, regardless of other health insurance plans they may have
- More money to attend their Defensive Driving class – it is increasing to $400, up from $300 (as a reminder, BCF drivers can also receive $250 for attending their newly-renamed Road Instruction and Driver Education Course and $250 for attending their Wellness, Safety Training & Education Program)
On a side note, the BCF’s Director of Human Resources & Office Manager, Dimitra Les made the 2026 Schneps Media Power Women of Queens list for the first time and executive director, Ira Goldstein was again named to City & State’s Queens Power 100 list. Congratulations to both of them!
City streets have also been a little safer in 2026. Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch says NYC saw historically low rates of major crimes during the first two months of 2026 – with a combined 8% decrease in major crime citywide, including reduced rates of retail theft and burglary (down 20% and 24%, respectively), according to News 12. This is especially good news for our industry’s drivers, who have been targeted by criminals in recent years.
Now, some bad news…
Unfortunately, much of the above-mentioned good news will potentially be offset, financially – at least in the short term – by the war in Iran, which triggered the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, where more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. This caused a drastic spike in gas prices. Oil prices have soared more than 40% since Feb. 28, bringing the nationwide average of gas to $3.98 a gallon – up about 35% in just a month – as of late March, according to CNBC.
Also: Although Gov. Hochul put Waymo’s entry into the state on the backburner, it seems obvious that autonomous robotaxis are inevitable within the next 5 to 10 years. Business travel and general tourism in NYC are also markedly down, thanks in large part to federal policies that are making international visitors hesitant to come to the U.S. This directly and adversely affects the volume of business that should be going to our industry and its drivers.
Okay, so I’ve discussed the good and the bad. Now, onto what can best be described as “weird” news…
Having recently been replaced as Chair of the NYC TLC by the Mamdani administration, David Do accepted a job as “senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs” for Empower, a company he branded “illegal” just a few weeks prior, while he was still TLC Chair. The company claims that workers can set their own fares and take home 100% of them – but the TLC was quoted in an article that ran in The City as saying, “Trips arranged through illegal, unlicensed apps carry no guarantee that the driver and vehicle meet the same safety standards, and there is no guarantee that passengers are adequately insured in the event of a crash. Any driver accepting trips through an unlicensed app risks fines, suspension, license revocation, seizure, and forfeiture of vehicles.”
The TLC lists Empower among other “illegal apps” at https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/drivers/safety-illegal-apps.page, with warnings and further details about the various companies and penalties.
Just 10 days after announcing that he was joining Empower, Do reversed course – clearly feeling the heat from several directions – and decided not to take the job. Despite what they may have offered him from a financial perspective, this was probably the right move, in no small part due to the fact that incoming TLC Chair Valdivia expressly said she will be going after the company and was “shocked the owners of the app were ignoring city rules to operate,” according to Gothamist.
In New York City, Empower is required to register as a base with the TLC, and officials say they have repeatedly urged the company to do so, but Empower apparently simply refused.
Meanwhile, media outlet Taxipoint Taxi News reported that Empower is enjoying explosive growth, “accounting for 22.1% of rides booked in New York City through ridehail aggregator Obi“ during one week in March. The figures, shared by Obi, showed Uber holding a 43.3% share of rides booked through the app in NYC, followed by Lyft at 31.1%. Number four on the platform was Curb, which represented 3.6% of weekly bookings through the aggregator.
Caught in the middle of this chaotic mess, once again, is our industry’s drivers, who are being pulled in every direction by forces they can’t control, at least not directly. All of this is simply more proof that the drivers from all of the segments licensed by the TLC need to band together, stick together and fight together for their rights and livelihoods. It’s a complicated world out there, but we all stand a better chance of getting through the next decade by standing side by side, rather than stabbing each other in the back over some short-term win.
