Celebrities are tweeting at New York's mayor to stop him from messing with Uber

By Fusion Staff  |  July 22, 2015 | 6:52pm
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Tomorrow, New York’s city council is expected to vote on whether to impose a cap on the number of for-hire vehicles that can operate in the five boroughs. The move, of course, is aimed directly at Uber, which Mayor Bill de Blasio has said lacks sufficient oversight and may be increasing congestion.

The proposal has faced opposition from a number of corners, including the city’s most important constituency: celebrities.

A host of famous and semi-famous people have been tweeting at the mayor Wednesday to show their opposition to the proposal.

Most prominent has been Ashton Kutcher, an Uber investor, who said the move would kill jobs.

This followed a Facebook post from Monday in which Kutcher called the proposal “corrupt” and “shortsighted.”

Others who’ve entered the mayor’s mentions include actor Neil Patrick Harris, model Kate Upton, fashion designer Liz Lange, Kanye West music director Mike Dean, and even CNBC host Mandy Drury:

Uber itself has reportedly spent more than $3 million on a TV campaign to call for the measure’s defeat, and has also tweaked its app to show users what would happen to pickup requests if it went through. Uber has said none of these famous people are getting paid to back the company, but it’s worth pointing out they’re all using more or less the same hashtag, #UberMovesNYC.

So far de Blasio has not responded on Twitter, although he tweeted this Sunday:

On Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo indicated he would go around de Blasio and meet with City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to attempt to thwart the measure’s passage, the New York Post reported.

“You can’t restrict trade,” he said.

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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