Illegal Mopeds and Fake Names: Migrants Scrape By in Underground Economy

[Demovictory9]

Illegal Mopeds and Fake Names: Migrants Scrape By in Underground Economy
The newest migrants in New York need money but are prohibited from working. A secondary market of fake app logins and weekly bike rentals has emerged

After Mayco Milano, a migrant from Venezuela, arrived in New York in late May, he spent a month walking all over Manhattan in search of work. Mr. Milano, who does not speak English, was turned down by countless restaurants. He landed a construction job, but it ended after three days, after he was asked for his Social Security number.

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He found a Venezuelan man in Queens who rents mopeds by the week; he found a Dominican man who supplies functional Uber Eats logins for a fee. And with that, Mr. Milano joined New York City’s shadow army of 65,000 food delivery workers.

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Mr. Milano, desperate to pay back the large debts he incurred in bringing his wife and three children to the United States, rents a moped (with helmet, lock and bag, but no license plate) for $400 a week; for the privilege of using an Uber Eats profile under the name “Jessica,” he pays a weekly cut of $150 to a Venezuelan woman.

These black-market fees eat up most of what he earns, but they enable him to work, which he does for more than 10 hours a day, seven days a week. He makes deliveries all over Manhattan and into Brooklyn, sometimes as many as 30 a day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/nyregion/migrant-delivery-unlicensed-moped.html

In July, after a good week during which he made $890 on the app — his share would be a little more than $300 — the person whose account he was renting disappeared without paying him. Mr. Milano had to borrow money from another migrant to cover his moped rental.