Mayor Adams Announces Department of Sustainable Delivery to Boost Street Safety, Hold Delivery App Companies Accountable; Renews Calls on City Council to Pass Critical Legislation

July 7, 2025

Department Will Harness Potential of Sustainable Transportation Options, Improve 
Street Safety, and Bring Order to Rapid Growth of Deliveries in New York City

Fiscal Year 2026 Adopted Budget Includes Funding to Hire 45 New Peace Officers, With First
Class of Officers Expected to Be Deployed in 2028, Focused on Delivery-Related Enforcement

Mayor Adams Renews Calls for City Council to  
Pass Legislation to Hold Delivery Companies Accountable

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced the Department of Sustainable Delivery (DSD), a new entity housed within the DOT. The DSD will conduct enforcement against illegal moped, e-bike, and e-scooter riding; hold delivery apps accountable by ensuring that commercial cyclists are using safe and legal equipment and that delivery companies face repercussions for unsafe behavior; and address vehicle parking behaviors that endanger pedestrians, cyclists, and e-bike riders. As part of Mayor Adams’ Fiscal Year 2026 Adopted Budget, new funding will support DOT hiring up to 45 new peace officers trained to issue moving violations, and enforce commercial cycling laws against businesses. This department will bring order to New York City streets as the number of app-based deliveries, and delivery workers have soared, with little accountability in place for app-based companies.

“Our administration continues to make the safety of every New Yorker our number one priority, and that includes keeping everyone on our streets safe, including pedestrians and bicyclists,” said Mayor Adams. “The newly created Department of Sustainable Delivery is yet another step that we’re taking to support delivery workers, keep pedestrians safe, and hold delivery app companies accountable for placing unrealistic expectations on their workers that put New Yorkers in harm’s way. Today, I’m also renewing my calls, yet again, to our partners in the City Council to pass our long-proposed legislation that will strengthen delivery worker safety and bolster the work of this newly created department — it's time to protect delivery workers and all New Yorkers, once and for all.”

“New Yorkers are receiving more deliveries than ever before, and this must happen in a safe and orderly fashion that protects everyone who shares our streets. This new Department of Sustainable Delivery will help us crack down on a range of illegal behavior and hold delivery apps accountable,” said DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. “DOT is taking a holistic approach to traffic safety through better street design, education, and now, a new dedicated enforcement team. We continue to call on the City Council to pass comprehensive legislation to support this new department and maximize its potential to bring order to the delivery business and our streets.”

First announced as part of Mayor Adams 2024 State of the City address and transmitted in draft form to the New York City Council over nine months ago, the Adams administration’s proposed legislation would authorize the city to revoke delivery apps’ licenses for incentivizing reckless e-bike riding by requiring workers to meet unreasonably fast delivery times. If passed, the legislation would:

• Hold big delivery app companies accountable for incentivizing reckless e-bike riding by forcing delivery workers to make unreasonably fast deliveries;  
• Establish safe delivery times;  
• Penalize app companies that break the law; and 
• Allow the city to revoke delivery apps’ licenses over continued bad behavior.  

The DSD’s enforcement team will supplement, in a targeted and data-driven fashion, traffic enforcement handled by the New York City Police Department and will be deployed at safety hotspots across the five boroughs. Officers will be deployed in teams, including officers on e-bikes, and will work alongside DOT’s Vision Zero Street Team to engage street users on safe and legal operation of vehicles and educate them about the leading causes of crashes. These officers — similar to New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission officers — will be unarmed.

In addition to this announcement, the administration is advancing measures to combat reckless driving, including rules to prohibit e-bikes and e-scooters from travelling faster than 15 miles-per-hour on city streets; mirroring best regulatory practices in countries that are at the forefront of sustainable transportation, such as the Netherlands and Belgium; and matching the existing speed limit in New York City for stand-up e-scooters to ensure speed limits are applied consistently across e-mobility devices.

This announcement builds on the Adams administration’s continued work to improve e-bike access and foster the growing use of legal e-micromobility options through the “Charge Safe, Ride Safe Action Plan,” while also shifting deliveries to more sustainable modes of transportation.

DOT has also installed wider bike lanes along its busiest routes, expanded public e-bike charging options for riders, and educated the public and delivery workers about safe and legal e-bike use. This past spring, the city launched an e-bike trade-in program for delivery workers to exchange illegal mopeds and uncertified e-bikes for legal, fire-safe e-bikes and batteries. The city also established “microhubs” to shift deliveries from large, congestion-causing trucks to more sustainable modes, such as cargo e-bikes and smaller electric vehicles.

###