Business, advocacy groups, call for state approval of ridesharing upstate

NEW YORK – The only place in New York where ridesharing services like Uber are allowed by law is New York City.
Over the last few years, there have been efforts to have that approval extended to the rest of the state and on Thursday, a group of over 70 business and advocacy groups announced a push to gain the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo.
On Thursday afternoon, the governor stated he does support Uber upstate.
Among those supporting the expanded service is Hudson Valley Tech Meetup, a technology and innovation group in the region. Its co-founder, Kale Kaposhilin, said ridesharing provides “greater access to your community” no matter where you live.
He said those programs increase social and professional opportunities for people without vehicles and make it easier for the numbers of physically disabled people in the region, particularly in Ulster County.
“There are some solutions in place for them, but particularly for care providers, ridesharing is a great additional resource for those folks to help them get to where they need to get,” Kaposhilin said. “Regardless of your socio-economic background, we really see ridesharing as something that connects and builds stronger communities for that reason, it is a technology we celebrate and we are certainly advocating to have ridesharing in the Hudson Valley.”
Nick Sinatra, a real estate agency owner in Buffalo, said that city is the largest in the nation without ridesharing, and “while folks in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and even New York City, successfully use these platforms every day.”
He said it is “time for downstate lawmakers to stop depriving upstate cities of an economic resource they already have.”