In Seattle, restaurants were allowed to remain open under the truly vague guidance that they would “not be allowed to have customers” NYC’s initial guidelines were also unclear if restaurant employees were exempt. In many instances, the implementation of curfews this past week has come with little advance notice or vagueness surrounding which “essential workers” - ie, if restaurant employees - would qualify for an exemption. Though many cities had lifted curfews by the end of the week, they remain in effect in NYC, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis, among other cities. cities imposed curfews at some point during the last week, intended, officials say, to prevent rioting, looting, and violence. states have taken to the streets, speaking out against anti-Black violence and the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery at the hands of police and vigilantes. “It tells me on the app I can show you guys something! It tells me I can show you and you can’t arrest me,” he says, clearly distressed as he’s handcuffed. Several videos posted to Twitter show a Caviar delivery worker being detained by police in Manhattan for allegedly breaking curfew. His suspicion was proven correct on Thursday night. “If you get stopped by one of these officers, it’s a 50-50 chance - or maybe even worse - that they’re even going to care that you’re showing them this notice,” he said. James describes the advisory as a four-line memo from Caviar and parent company DoorDash stating that delivery workers are exempt from curfew restrictions. “If a law enforcement officer or other public official attempts to stop you from providing delivery services, please show them this advisory linked below,” it reads. Luckily I picked up a fare right away.”Ĭaviar, one of the delivery services James drives for now, issued drivers a similar notice in New York amid citywide protests and curfew, he said. He turned me around and I had to go back. “What I recall is that I had a cop stop me as I was driving in over the Manhattan Bridge and I’m like, ‘Wait, I can show you this notice from your commissioner,’ and he just didn’t care.

The city imposed restrictions on traffic into Manhattan, but, as he remembers it, the police department issued a bulletin allowing cab drivers to cross onto the island without a passenger.

James* works as a courier for four different app-based delivery services, but in 2012, he drove a yellow cab in New York City during Hurricane Sandy.

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