> If I’m ordering from an app, I’m already paying delivery and service fees. Why aren’t those being used to pay the delivery people a fair wage? Why do I also have to pay a tip?

The unfortunate answer is that these fees are reaped by the delivery app middlemen (UberEats, Seamless, DoorDash, etc), who are taking something like 20% of the sale. People are certainly paying enough money for their meals but it's being siphoned away, not even going to the local restaurants or delivery people.

This is especially sad for NYC because we've had really good delivery options for decades, long before these delivery apps existed. While I understand it's more convenient to order from an app instead of by picking up a phone, I don't think that convenience is worth anything close to what these apps are charging. Prices having gone way up in the past 2-3 years such that we've normalized paying a lot for delivery, but the extra fees aren't going to the people deserving of them (i.e. the delivery people primarily and restaurants secondarily).