Freddy Castiblanco has run his Queens restaurant and live music venue, Terraza 7, for the last two decades. He’s always insisted on paying his workers the state's minimum wage — and tips on top.
“For those of us who form the backbone of the economy, it’s clear that fair wages are essential for the growth of local businesses and the economy as a whole,” Castiblanco said. “We need a level playing field.”
Castiblanco joined food service workers across New York and progressive lawmakers at the statehouse Monday to push for a bill that would nix the “subminimum wage” that workers currently receive, and require employers pay the full minimum wage on top of tips.
The bill has been met with opposition by some workers and restaurant owners who say it would increase operating costs for businesses and ultimately leave workers with fewer tips.
While the current minimum wage is $16.50 in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, and $15.50 for the rest of the state, food service employers can pay their workers anywhere from $10.35 to $11. Essentially, the lower wage assumes that the tips an employee gets make up the difference.
But Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas, who is cosponsoring the bill with state Sen. Robert Jackson, argued that women and people of color are often undertipped at fast food and casual restaurants. In her eyes, the current payment structure for food workers puts them on a sub-tier pay scale compared to all workers in New York.
“The goal is to get our restaurant workers, who work really hard and are deserving of that dignity, a full minimum wage with tips on top,” said González-Rojas, a Democrat who represents Queens. “Tips should be what they are: gratuitous, a thank you for your service, but they shouldn't depend on those tips just to make minimum wage in New York.”

Certain tipped workers, like car wash employees and nail salon workers, were paid on a similar structure until former Gov. Andrew Cuomo got rid of the subminimum wage at the end of 2019. But the system has stayed in place for restaurant and food service workers.
Under the proposed bill, the minimum wage for food service workers would gradually increase from $11.50 and $12.77 in 2026 to ultimately $16 in 2029 for workers in regions outside of the city and its immediate areas, and $17 in 2028 for those working in the city and immediate areas. The wage rate would later be adjusted for inflation.
For years, the food service industry has struggled to fully compensate its workers. A ProPublica report found that about 13,000 food service workers experienced wage theft in New York from 2017 to 2021.
Adonis García, a line cook at a Chili’s restaurant in Queens, said his wages have been so low that he couldn’t afford to take public transportation to get to work and buy groceries, so he biked to work during the winter instead.
“If I was able to have one fair wage, I would be able to have a good meal as well as a good mode of transportation,” García said. “This has affected me in my body and in my livelihood.”
Not everyone in the industry is eager to see this change, though.
John Licata, who has worked at Chianti Ristorante in Saratoga Springs as a server for the past 15 years, said at catered or special events where employers pay the minimum wage in full — and charge extra for menu prices — customers don't tip as generously.
“Once you start charging the guests, the customers, extra money ... they feel like the server is being paid properly, so it justifies them walking out without tipping,” he said.
Melissa Fleischut, the president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, said the bill would translate to higher operating costs for businesses, meaning higher prices for customers.
“All of the higher prices are getting passed onto consumers," Fleischut said, "so we simply don’t have the room to change the business model and add all this additional cost into the menu prices.”