Uber revs up N.Y. lobbying with $1.2M

ALBANY — Ride-sharing company Uber put its lobbying efforts into high gear during the first half of 2017, spending more than $1.2 million to influence lawmakers, records show.

Uber ranked among Albany’s most active lobbyists during the period and came as the state Legislature considered — and ultimately passed — a measure enabling ridesharing companies to operate upstate and on Long Island.

“The spending correlates to the intensity of the lobbying and Uber was at the center of one of the biggest legislative fights this year,” said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Uber defended the company’s lobbying in a statement, saying that New Yorkers had been “clamoring for the service for years.”