Uber and Lyft cap now official

A yearlong pause in issuing most new licenses for for-hire vehicles went into effect Tuesday with the stroke of Mayor de Blasio’s ceremonial pens.

Hizzoner signed legislation aimed at capping the growth of Uber, Lyft and other e-hail apps in the city by issuing no new licenses for for-hire vehicles for a year — except for those applying to put wheelchair accessible vehicles on the road. During that year, the city will study if it should cap the number of vehicles on the road for those services in the future.

The move comes as the explosion in popularity of e-hail apps — and the resulting addition of tens of thousands of for-hire cars to the city’s streets — has thrown the city’s taxi and livery industry into chaos, with drivers saying the market is so over-saturated they can no longer make a living.

De Blasio accused e-hail companies of purposefully flooding the zone.

“It became increasingly clear this was part of a very cynical plan to over-saturate this city, to over-saturate this market on purpose because of corporate greed,” de Blasio said.

The push for a cap — something that failed three years ago — was buoyed by the plight of struggling drivers. Six, who struggled to make a living, have committed suicide so far this year, including Doug Schifter — who shot himself outside City Hall.

“This for us wasn’t just about raising livelihoods,” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the Taxi Workers Alliance, “It fundamentally became about saving lives.”

The mayor also signed legislation requiring the Taxi and Limousine Commission to set a minimum wage for drivers working for major e-hail companies like Uber and Lyft.