Uber & Lyft Cap Would Cause 'Economic Tsunami' In BK, Critics Say

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A proposed cap on ride-hailing app cars would hit Brooklyn like “an economic tsunami” during the L train shutdown, according to local community leaders.

Business owners and commerce group organizers rallied at Brooklyn Bowl Thursday morning to speak out against a City Council bill that calls for a year-long hiatus on licensing cars for apps such as Uber and Lyft.

“Brooklyn will become a transit desert,” said Elaine Brodsy of the North Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “We hope the council will back off.”

The group argued a potential cap would leave Brooklyn residents stranded during the 15-month L train shutdown, slated to begin in April 2019, and harm businesses that rely on out-of-the-neighborhood clientele.

“This is not the time to be changing available transportation modes,” said Felice Kirby, the owner of Teddy’s, Williamsburg's oldest bar. “We should be negotiating and looking at other options.”

Sulma Arzu-Brown, director of operations for the New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also pointed out that the cap could have an adverse impact on lower income residents in the outer boroughs.

“We believe the council’s proposal would take us back to the day where only the privileged were able to access transportation,” she said.

“Capping [ride-hailing app cars] would diminish our member’s ability to achieve upward and social mobility in one of the most expensive cities in the world.”

The contested bill, sponsored by Brooklyn Councilman Stephen Levin, would stop the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission from issuing new for-hire vehicle licenses for a year while the city studies how the apps affect the subway system, city traffic and the yellow cab industry.

Supporters for capping ride-share cars argue the spike in Uber and Lyft cars is responsible for subway ridership dropping steadily for two years, growing traffic jams in city streets, and even a recent spate of suicides among yellow cab drivers struggling to pay their bills.

"Our goal has always been to protect drivers, bring fairness to the industry and reduce congestion,” speaker Corey Johnson, a key supporter of the bill, said in a statement. “This is the plan that we came up with and in my heart I believe it’s the best path forward.”

But the Brooklyn community leaders believe the ridesharing apps could provide a vital service, and asked city officials to work instead on a pooling service that could pick up and drop off commuters at key locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan during the Canarsie Tunnel closure.

“You’re taking away options,” Brodsky said. “Why take them away now?”

(Lead image: A ride-hailing vehicle moves through traffic on July 30, 2018 in New York City. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)