Exclusive | NYC councilman pulls support from Mamdani-backed Amazon delivery bill due to potential job loss

A Democratic New York City Councilman quietly withdrew his support from the controversial, Mayor Zohran Mamdani-backed Delivery Protection Act aimed at cracking down on Amazon’s employment practices for “last-mile” delivery drivers — saying the legislation would lead to thousands of lost jobs, The Post has learned.Councilman Phil Wong of Queens recently removed his name as co-sponsor of the bill after meeting with small business owners who told him it would force them to shutter and lay off their employees.“I’ve been talking to many of the small businesses,” the pol, whose district covers Maspeth, Middle Village and other parts of Queens, told The Post on Monday.“If this bill gets passed, it will close a lot of them and that’s bad for my district.”The councilman signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill when his far-left Queens colleague Tiffany Cabán introduced it in 2025.

The legislation aims to end Amazon’s reliance on subcontractors by requiring the e-tail giant to get licenses for its 15 last-mile facilities in the city and hire delivery workers as full-timers.Other companies including FedEx would also be subject to the new rules.The bill would affect over 5,000 delivery workers currently employed by about 40 third-party contractors, according Amazon.

Wong reupped his support for the bill when Cabán reintroduced it earlier this year, but took his name off it in September after a series of meetings with logistics companies.Amazon doesn’t directly employ delivery workers anywhere in this country.It has threatened to close its last-mile warehouses in the Big Apple and fire about 2,000 workers that staff them if Cabán’s legislation passes.New Yorkers’ delivery costs would increase an extra $664 a year, or about $5.20 per package, if the bill passes, according to an AKFR study commissioned by Amazon.One of 35 current co-sponsors of the bill told The Post, “There is tremendous political pressure and I think a lot of my colleagues inclu...