The newest head of the town’s Taxi and Limousine Fee is taking a brand new job with a ride-hailing tech firm — simply weeks after TLC branded it as “illegal.”
David Do is leaping to Empower as senior vice chairman of presidency and regulatory affairs shortly after exiting the company that oversees the town’s sprawling taxi and for-hire car trade — the place he had served as commissioner since 2022.
“Empower is an unlicensed, illegal base that puts both drivers and passengers at risk, and we are committed to holding it accountable,” Jason Kerstein, a TLC spokesperson, mentioned in an announcement. “Upon confirming that the former commissioner, who was hired under the Eric Adams administration, just took a job with Empower, we immediately reported it to the Conflicts of Interest Board for investigation.”
The tech firm has been making inroads within the metropolis lately whereas attempting to chop into Uber and Lyft’s grip on the for-hire car enterprise with cheaper rides. It payments itself as a pro-worker app with a month-to-month membership payment and claims that staff can set their very own fares and take house 100% of every fare.
The bombshell dropped Wednesday towards the tip of a Metropolis Council affirmation listening to for Midori Valdivia, who Mayor Zohran Mamdani named in January as Do’s successor on the TLC.
In the course of the Metropolis Council listening to, Valdivia was vital of Empower, which the TLC has mentioned does meet TLC security requirements for drivers or passengers and doesn’t guarantee that passengers are “adequately insured in the event of a crash.”
“I will use every power in the TLC’s authority, and as much power as I can in the city’s authority, to stop Empower and stop this illegal operation,” Valdivia mentioned.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani proclaims Midori Valdivia as the brand new head of the Taxi and Limousine Fee, Jan. 13, 2026. Credit score: Kara McCurdy/Mayoral Images Workplace
Then the assembly was upended by the digital testimony of Joshua Sear, the chief government officer of Empower.
“While I am admittedly disappointed that she commented on Empower without having ever spoken to anyone from the company, based on everything else that I heard from her today, I am hopeful she will be a strong champion for drivers,” Sear mentioned.
Calling drivers “some of the hardest working folks in our community,” Sear then slipped in that Do is transferring on to his firm, which has rapidly come into the sights of the town for its push to chop into Uber and Lyft’s enterprise.
The corporate payments itself as providing a unique mannequin from its rivals’, one that permits drivers to “truly run their own businesses,” it says. However TLC has focused the corporate on an “illegal apps” web site warning that providers “such as Empower and WhatsApp Messenger are unlicensed software platforms that serve bases” by connecting drivers with journeys.
For-hire automobiles from Uber and Lyft account for greater than 82,000 of the greater than 115,000 TLC-licensed automobiles within the metropolis, in line with company knowledge.
“Working for themselves using our software, TLC-licensed drivers are making thousands of dollars more per month than they were working for Uber or Lyft,” Sear mentioned in his testimony Thursday.
TLC officers countered that drivers aligned with Empower are vulnerable to shedding their licenses and are topic to enforcement actions by TLC police.
THE CITY reported that Do earned his TLC driver’s license quickly after taking the wheel on the company in 2022, often taking unsuspecting passengers for rides as a part of his efforts to study extra about what drivers encounter on the job. TLC would often spotlight his stints behind the wheel in social media movies.
Bhairavi Desai, the pinnacle of the New York Taxi Employees Alliance, instructed THE CITY that Do’s shock soar to Empower is “equally disappointing and infuriating.”
A spokesperson for Empower mentioned in an announcement that each driver utilizing the corporate’s software program “is a TLC-licensed driver using a TLC-licensed vehicle.”
“We look forward to working with the Mamdani administration to ensure TLC-licensed drivers have the same civil rights as all other licensed professionals in New York and that New Yorkers have access to affordable and safe transportation,” the assertion learn.
In his digital testimony, the corporate’s CEO praised Do as a match for its enterprise mannequin.
“He, like myself, understands that drivers in New York City are tired of feeling unheard and disempowered,” Sear mentioned. “They want the ability work for themselves.”
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