Of course, where there’s a booming new industry, there must be new regulations. It wasn’t long before local politicians and workers unions started to eye 15-minute grocery delivery service more critically.
“It turned out that all over the city they were popping up,” she said. “It was like, what is this? And I must admit, I had never heard of them.” “I am concerned that these services compete with existing supermarkets, bodegas and other food and beverage establishments, and occupy spaces that are now no longer available to the public,” she wrote. “While there continue to be food deserts in Manhattan, these companies are not serving those areas; instead, most are opening where there are already many grocery options.”
The letter asked the DOB to take “immediate action” to regulate dark stores operating against zoning regulations and in potential violation of other city laws. Brewer’s staff provided DOB and DCPW with a list of dark stores they had identified in Manhattan, and, in August, DCWP said it had sent cease-and-desist letters to the companies not complying with the city’s cash laws and would “follow-up to issue notices of hearing for illegal activity, as necessary.