From the NY Post:Mayor Bloomberg wants to legalize the widespread — but officially illegal — practice of livery cabbies picking up passengers on the street.
In his State of the City speech tomorrow, the mayor will urge the City Council to toss out the rules that say livery drivers can only pick up fares by pre-arrangement.
According to Taxi and Limousine Commission figures, 97.5 percent of yellow taxi trips originate in Manhattan or at the airports, leaving the 80 percent of the city’s population who live in the outer boroughs to rely on illegal livery pickups.
"And why shouldn’t someone in Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx or Staten Island be able to hail a legal cab on the street?" Bloomberg will say, according to an advance text of his address.
"Whether you’re standing on 42nd Street in Manhattan, or 42nd Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, or 42nd Street in Sunnyside, Queens, you ought to be able to hail a cab."
The TLC acknowledges that yellow taxis almost never cruise outside Manhattan.
Under legislation Bloomberg will propose, livery taxis will be able to accept "street-hails" provided they have meters, credit card readers, GPS locators and have recognizable markings, such as a single uniform color. The city would determine the fare structure, as it does with yellow cabs.
24 comments:
I'm going to get me a fleet of these cabs if this law passes.
Imagine $600,000 medallion cabs for no dollars. The guys who paid for these yellow cabs have to be livid.
And what about the medallions? People paid as much as they would for a house to get them and now they will be worthless.
Medallion Cab Drivers are gonna squeal like a stuck pig over this, but it's one they could have prevented by cruising the "Outer Boroughs" a bit more.
Definitely agree with anonymous 3!
This is actually a pragmatic idea. It's already "de facto" in practice, they just have to make it legal.
Similar in concept to California's Proposition 19, which unfortunately didn't get enough votes.
Since medallion cabs focus on getting in and out of Manhattan, this really shouldn't hurt them at all.
This is a disaster.
More "recent arrivals" who dont know the rules of the road, acting even MORE aggressive on our streets.
Blocking bus stops, double parking, hanging illegal u-turns, loitering, blowing lights, driving aggressive, over-charging during 'bad' weather.
These people are the scum of the earth.
This is actually a pragmatic idea. It's already "de facto" in practice, they just have to make it legal.
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Exactly. Take a walk outside Queens Center Mall, or the 71st ave subway stop, or the bus transfer station under the M train at Wycoff.
Gypsies sit there all the time, and 99% of the time, the people the pick up didnt call ahead.
I also notice many of these cabs have out-of-state plates, so throw insurance fraud on top of that.
The "Fenix" drivers are the worst of them.
Meeting anarchy halfway.
Let the one person who hasn't hailed a livery cab in the outer-boroughs cast the first stone.
Let the one person who hasn't hailed a livery cab in the outer-boroughs cast the first stone.
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That would be me then.
I refuse to do so on principle. I don't want any of these scumbags to get my money, just so they can cheat medallion drivers and honest radio-call car services. I'll use 4-ones. I will not use Fenix, Liberty, or any of those other dirtbag companies that i see out there in queens.
Nothing beats the time back in the early '80's when I had to hail a gypsy cab to go to my teaching job just past a desolate, burnt out area in Morrisania, the Bronx. A cop stopped the gypsy, and I was left in the middle of nowhere because the cop arrested the gypsy for being an illegal alien. Apparently, cops received some kind of monetary reward for this arrest. I somehow got to work, but I never wanted to take a gypsy cab again.
"Apparently, cops received some kind of monetary reward for this arrest."
Surely, you can't believe that?
"Surely, you can't believe that?"
Early 80's, you never know.
If you don't have a car in the outer boroughs, you're a second rate citizen, a crook.
You think maybe, this is one of Bloombergs way of breaking one of the unions in NYC? The medallion cabs have a union no?
Looks like union busting to me.
I got to admit all of the posters are right in some way in their opinion.
Now I don't like these black cars that already cruise for customers because they are usually driven by illegals, have no insurance and are breaking the law picking up customers. So Bloomberg rewards this? Enforce the law asshole.
Now this is another wrinkle to face if this idea goes forward: The city will have to defend against the class action law suit you and I will be paying for when medallion owners sue the city for instantly decreasing the value of a cab's medallion. The point here is that the medallion owners will win eventually!
So Bloomberg try enforcing all of the laws to begin with and we will have a much better city. Former Mayor Giuliani must be laughing big time over this latest move!
This is another one of Bloomberg's stupid ideas. By the time he leaves office, the city will be ruined.
BAD IDEA BLOOMBERG!!!! WHY AM I YELLING.....HE NEVER LISTENS TO ANYONE!!! IT'S HIS WAY OR THE HIGHWAY.
easy solution to this.
Medallions should be required for random taxi pickups in Manhattan.
Outer-boroughs don't need one.
If the law was upheld then the medalion cabs would have at least picked up folks on Queens Blvd and major train stops such as Roosevelt 74th Street.
The cockroaches (black cars) are not policed by the Taxi and Limmo Commission nor are the drivers legally licensed to drive. This initiative is basically a "I give up" solution that will greatly cause the public harm in safety issues and monetary for the public.
I just love laws that help illegals and put more burden on 10th+ generation residents.
Fantastic city. Why don't i move already???
Oh wait, thats right, unlike these new arrivals, i dont abandon my home that easily.
Also, it doesn't help that the rest of the nation is being turned to shit, too.
Who the fuck cares about cabs these days. Only the fucked up trust fund assholes can afford them.
That is true. My pop drove a yellow cab and I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have sat in one during the last 20 years.
It's funny he mentions 42nd street in Sunnyside Queens, because once you walk to Queens Blvd, there's a plethora of medallion cabs! He shoulda mentioned another part of Queens...
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