City Council leaders, workers pledge to override Adams’ vetoes on vendor and delivery-worker bills

New York City Council leaders and labor advocates said at a City Hall event that they will move to override Mayor Eric Adams’ vetoes of three pieces of legislation they said would end criminal penalties for street vending and extend minimum-wage protections to grocery delivery workers.

“ We in the City Council will stand up for workers. We in the City Council will stand up for street vendors,” Council member Shekar Krishnan said, listing the three measures the council had passed and saying the body would override the mayor’s vetoes.

The measures discussed in the event included Intro 47‑B, described by speakers as ending criminalization of street vending; and two bills identified in the transcript as Intro 11‑35 (also shown in one place as 11‑35A) and Intro 11‑33 (also shown as 11‑33A), described by council members and delivery workers as extending existing pay standards and workplace protections that apply to food delivery to grocery-delivery platforms. The transcript also includes a worker reference to “Intro 1332”; the excerpt does not clarify whether that is an additional bill number or a transcription error.

Why it matters: speakers said the bills would protect low-income and immigrant New Yorkers from criminal records and provide more stable pay for thousands of grocery-delivery workers. “There is no New York without our workers and our entrepreneurs,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said, attributing the package to the council’s labor priorities and urging an override of the mayoral vetoes.

Advocates and workers who addressed the event described low pay, safety risks and enforcement outcomes they said disproportionately harm immigrants and people of color. “It is impossible to make ends meet this way,” Instacart delivery worker David Limas said, describing deliveries that sometimes paid “only $7 or $8 for an order that can take nearly an hour to complete.” Luis Cortez, an organizer with Workers Justice Project, translated for Limas and said the laws would bring “stability, dignity, and safety for tens of thousands of workers like me.” Antonio Solis, identified as a delivery worker and organizing leader, said he had worked as a delivery worker since 2019.

Council members and advocates said the street‑vending bill reflected recommendations from the Street Vendor Advisory Board and from city agencies, including the New York Police Department. Speakers said enforcement would remain civil for many violations but that the bill removes criminal penalties that can carry immigration consequences. “There will still be civil penalties, but these penalties will not block access to education, to jobs and housing that can threaten immigration status,” Speaker Adams said.

Corporate opposition was a theme of the event. Council member Sandy Nurse and others criticized large delivery platforms and cited lobbying and advertising expenditures. Nurse said a recent expansion of delivery apps left some workers earning different amounts for the same work and that the city should require pay equity across platforms.

The transcript excerpt records repeated statements that the council will “override” the mayor’s vetoes and highlights public testimony from workers and Street Vendor Project representatives, but it does not include a recorded vote, motion maker, or final vote tally. Council members at the event said the bills had passed the council earlier and that advocates and staff had helped draft them; the next procedural step for an actual override would be a floor vote, which is not shown in the provided excerpt.

Supporters at the event included Workers Justice Project, Street Vendor Project, New York Immigration Coalition, Council on American–Islamic Relations, the Arab American Association of New York and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, among others, and several council members identified themselves as sponsors or co‑sponsors. The event closed with an offer to take questions from media and a note that the package would continue to advance through council procedures.

Votes at a glance: the transcript does not record any formal override vote or the outcome for Intro 47‑B, Intro 11‑35/11‑35A, or Intro 11‑33/11‑33A. The council and advocates said an override would be sought, but the excerpt contains only statements of intent and public testimony.