From DNA Info:A Queens gas station owned by a taxi tycoon is refusing to sell gas to anyone but yellow cabs — with preferential treatment for his own drivers — even as desperate motorists line up for blocks to get fuel amid a massive shortage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
On the eve of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's mandatory gas-rationing plan, a Shell station on Northern Boulevard and 71st Street was giving away a seemingly endless supply of gas — mainly to members of taxi mogul Evgeny Freidman's taxi fleet.
Freidman's gas station had three working pumps on Thursday and has been flush with gas in the wake of the hurricane, even as dozens of others around the five boroughs ran dry and closed, sparking massive lines.
The station waved away at least five pleading motorists trying to fill up at the pump within an hour that evening while yellow cabs flew through the line and filled up, as officials from the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission stood by and watched.
"We're just here to provide security," said a TLC official, who turned up at the station at 5 p.m. Thursday, along with several NYPD officers, after getting "hundreds" of 911 calls about fights at that station.
Two pumps were reserved for Taxi Club Management, Freidman's massive fleet of cabs. All other cab drivers, who had been turned away from the station until the TLC intervened Wednesday, had to wait in two-block-long lines to use the third pump, even when the Taxi Club lines were empty.
9 comments:
why is the city and the government letting them get away with this -- nobody should ever go back to his stations at all
So the guy is looking to protect his own business interest. That's how it works people.
Taxi drivers cannot earn a living without gasoline. There is no alternative to gasoline for them. Someone should also be protecting these low paid drivers, and if the city isn't doing it, at least this guy is. And yes, it's in his own interest as well, but do you think he doesn't owe the bank a large note every month for some of those medallions?
Selfish people complaining that someone else is selfish. Hypocrites.
So the guy is looking to protect his own business interest.
_____
Sounds like a developer trying to buy a politician.
Public taxes paid for the roads that brought his gas, brings in the utilities to his location and protects him from the thugs that crawl about.
You - and he - are examples of the selfish attitudes that has degraded public discourse recently.
And his taxis provide a vital service to many New Yorkers. But I guess that doesn't count.
"his taxis provide a vital service to many New Yorkers."
Mostly the well-to-do or drunkards. Let them take the subway.
Go after Friedman - maybe thing will change for the better with taxi issues!
When the subways were out, taxis were a way to get around. Even now, there are capacity issues on the trains as the storm damage is still getting fixed. Mass transit doesn't just consist of buses and trains. There are over 10,000 yellow cabs. For disabled and elderly, they are a useful resource.
Very sorry but taxis are not "mass transit" no matter how you slice it. If that were the case, then regular cars containing 2 or more people are also mass transit. They tried this definition during the congestion pricing fight and it didn't work.
I'm with Anony 2. It's Friedman's gas station. It's not like he was turning away people because race or religion. If I ahd a restaurant and there was a food shortage, I wouldn't be serving strangers, I would be serving my family and friends. The taxi owners pay a fortune for the medallions and need the gas to work.
Anony 3 - public taxes also pay for the roads leading to your home and to bring the home utilities and for the law enforcement that protects you. By your argument you should be required to shelter homeless people in your residence.
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