Roughly half of the 500 New York delivery workers surveyed have experienced an accident or crash while doing delivery, according to a 2021 report from Cornell University. They also face constant threats of being robbed and assaulted.
While the city passed local laws in 2022 to address safety concerns of over 60,000 workers, delivery workers say they are far from effective. As a response, delivery workers in this video story say they have made grassroots efforts to protect themselves, including setting up online group chats and theft reporting systems, as well as holding fundraising events to support the injured and the dead.
About the author(s)
Hongyu (Nancy) Chen is an MS Visual Craft track student at Columbia Journalism School covering labor and seniors.