BUFFALO, N.Y. -- More support has been thrown behind ridesharing for Western New York. A couple of local bars and restaurants hosted rallies for Uber and Lyft.
Thin Man Brewery in Elmwood Village and Brennan's Bowery Bar in Williamsville hosted "Lyft the ban on Uber" Thursday night.
The owners of both said they are jumping behind the cause for a number of reasons.
One big reason is it would help business. Especially for Brennan's that is not as accessible for some by foot, ridesharing gives people more options for how they will get around.
It also would alleviate parking problems that can plagues areas like Elmwood Village around Thin Man.
Plus, Uber says it reduces drunk driving.
"I have a lot of friends from out of town that would come to my bars and say, let's grab an Uber and go to your next one, and I'm like not going to happen. No Uber. So it's kind of like we're the little step child, you know, and it's kind of embarrassing, you know, I take a lot of pride in being from Buffalo. I've opened a lot of businesses here, and I could do that anywhere in the country, and I chose to do it in my home, and it's kind of like a slap in the face,” says Thin Man co-owner Mike Shatzel.
The bar owners collected the names of people who support ridesharing to send to Albany.
They say additional rallies will be scheduled at other bars and breweries.
But not everyone is on board. In response to the rallies Thursday, the president of the Upstate Transportation Association released this statement:
“This was just another publicity stunt in Uber’s multi-million-dollar campaign against basic safety regulations," John Tomassi, the president of UTA, said. "Common sense demands that upstate passengers have the same protections as New York City passengers including fingerprint background checks for every ridesharing driver. We look forward to discussing passenger safety and insurance standards in public hearings after the state legislative session begins in January.”
The rallies started at 6 p.m. There were a few speakers scheduled at both Brennan's Bowery Bar and Thin Man Brewery including representatives for Senator Tim Kennedy and Assemblyman Sean Ryan.
If you missed the event, you can learn more here.