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.
The Mamdani administration will investigate Wonder "for violations workers experienced at Relay," said Sam Levine, the commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
"The truth about unchecked corporate consolidation is that it leaves workers out to dry," Levine added. "Wonder, which also owns GrubHub and Seamless, indicated back in 2024 that it was purchasing Relay for its technology infrastructure, and unfortunately this may have been its plan all along. ... We encourage delivery workers to visit nyc.gov/deliveryapps or call 311 and say 'delivery worker' to learn more about their rights under the Delivery Worker Laws."
Relay was launched by Alex Blum and Mike Chevett in 2014 — long before UberEats and...
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