James* works as a courier for four different app-based delivery services, but in 2012, he drove a yellow cab in New York City during Hurricane Sandy. The city imposed restrictions on traffic into Manhattan, but, as he remembers it, the police department issued a bulletin allowing cab drivers to cross onto the island without a passenger.

“What I recall is that I had a cop stop me as I was driving in over the Manhattan Bridge and I’m like, ‘Wait,