Political arena

Uber war reaches Bronx

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As Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to crack down on the ride-hailing service Uber, local councilmen are voicing opposite views on the move.

Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, the chairman of the transportation committee, has largely echoed criticism of Uber from the mayor, who says the ride-sharing service has had unintended consequences on pollution and traffic. The chief of staff for Councilman Fernando Cabrera said he is opposed to Mr. de Blasio’s proposal to limit Uber and other services’ growth to 1 percent per year, but the councilman did not give an interview for this article.

Northwest Bronx Councilman Andrew Cohen is still undecided about Uber, which says more than a quarter of its rides are to, from or within the outer boroughs.

“I have not made a decision,” Mr. Cohen said. “I’m not sure what the council is going to do, to be honest. There’s a lot of internal debate.”

The mayor and Mr. Rodriguez have called for a study to examine Uber’s impact on traffic congestion. News sources say since the service came to the city in 2011, the total number of for-hire vehicles has expanded more than 60 percent, to roughly 63,000.

“I think it makes sense for the city to understand what the impact of that growth is and how it affects the livery car industry, yellow cars and green cars,” Mr. Cohen said.

The fight over Uber has dominated city headlines in recent days, with the mayor seeking to cast the service as a corporate villain and Uber launching an aggressive PR counter-campaign.

Asked what he thought of the mayor’s strategy, Mr. Cohen said, “Traffic in this city, it’s a never-ending discussion... As mayor, traffic and congestion are always sort of going to be in your top five” issues.

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