Do you recognize this delivery rider who went viral when the remnants of Hurricane Ida lashed New York on Wednesday, causing historic flash floods that killed at least 28 people in the northeast? There’s $1,700 waiting for that waterlogged rider, whoever they are.
The video has been watched over 10 million times on Twitter alone, and the person who captured the footage has received roughly $1,700 from media outlets that wanted to license the footage for broadcast, according to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
AOC is trying to connect the unnamed person who took the video with the delivery rider, something the congresswoman acknowledges might be tough.
“This is a huge long shot, but the person who filmed this deliverista last night received $1,700+ from media outlets who wanted to license the footage. They want to give all of it to the worker, but need finding him. Any tips?” Ocasio-Cortez asked in a tweet late Thursday.
“This was ~10:10pm near Roebling/11th st in BK,” AOC continued, narrowing down the area and time the video was taken.
News outlets often pay people on social media for photos and videos, and while the videographer in this case identified the delivery person as working for GrubHub, that hasn’t been confirmed.
It’d be great to get this person their money, but it’s extremely depressing reading the stories of people who had to work for companies like GrubHub, DoorDash, and Relay on Wednesday night during the historic floods in the northeast.
As Vice explains in a new article, delivery riders are often incentivized with bonuses during rain and snow storms, giving gig workers a big push to go out during potentially dangerous situations:
In New York City, delivery couriers who survive on meager wages often are incentivized to work during rain and snow storms because gig companies offer the lucrative bonuses and incentives, an organizer at Los Deliverstas Unidos, a grassroots network of immigrant food delivery workers in New York City, told Motherboard. While the conditions during Wednesday evening’s tropical storm were exceptional, the reasons delivery workers braved life-threatening conditions continued to be the promise of higher than usual earnings.
Vice reports that GrubHub didn’t offer any financial incentives on Wednesday night during the terrible storm, but DoorDash apparently offered $3.50 for each delivery and Relay reportedly offered $2 per delivery.
If you recognize the rider, get in touch with AOC, presumably over Twitter. It’d be great to see this person get some real money after such a hard night’s work.