Amazon vans may be New York City's latest target in a crackdown on delivery services

Amazon is making New York City traffic more dangerous, according to new data compiled by an advocacy group.

The report drew support from one New York City official as the city continues its crackdown on delivery services under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Most recently, the city inked a $131.5 million settlement with DoorDash last week over the company's pay practices.

Many of the workers driving the offending vehicles are independent contractors through an Amazon Delivery Service Partner, a third-party separate from the e-commerce giant. The workers often wear Amazon-branded clothes and must pass an Amazon-conducted background check to do the job.

An Amazon spokesperson said that the company works with DSPs "to promote safe delivery practices, from hands-on driver training to in-vehicle safety technology." The company has trained roughly 110,000 drivers through its Last Mile Training Academy, for instance, where drivers learn to safely operate a delivery vehicle.

DSPs are responsible for making sure that their drivers follow traffic laws — and have to assume the costs when drivers incur violations, the spokesperson said.

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The violations were widespread across the city's five boroughs, the report said. They also involved 637 vehicle license plates.

The findings point to a threat that Amazon's delivery model brings to New York City's streets, Samuel A.A. Levine, Commissioner of New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, said.

Levine urged the passage of the Delivery Protection Act, a proposal before the New York City Council that would require companies like Amazon to directly employ the workers who deliver their packages.

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