The city’s overworked, under-rested cabbies finally have a dedicated place to chill out, with the grand opening of a brand new “Taxi Clubhouse” specifically for drivers to relax.
The clubhouse, located at 22nd Street and Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, provides much-needed amenities often lacking for drivers working long shifts all over the city, such as bathrooms, food, beverages, and wifi, but also cool amenities like TVs, video games, a gym, and space to pray.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission recorded over 2,500 cellphones, wallets, purses and other items were accidentally left in taxi cabs last year alone. However, one thing that virtually never makes the list of items left behind is the ashes of a deceased person.
Family members and friends of a beloved New York City businessman reported the loss and ended up appreciating what happened. They called it a posthumous gift from their loved one, given in a way only he could.
“Absolutely humorous for dad’s ashes to go missing,” said the son of the deceased, who requested that his father’s identity not be revealed.
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With the MTA moving forward with plans to implement congestion pricing, which would be tolls for drivers coming into Manhattan below 60th Street, more and more cab and ride-hailing drivers are worried about how it will impact their income.
“Congestion pricing, it’s going to be more money from our pocket,” said taxi driver Jose Valderrama. “I really believe that they shouldn’t do it. For yellow cabs or even Uber. We are coming to work, not coming to ride.”
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He bid up the price of medallions and borrowed against them. When their value plummeted, immigrant cabbies were left deep in debt.
Gene Freidman, a cabdriver’s son who schemed his way to become the nation’s biggest taxi mogul and came to personify both the inflated ascent of the industry in New York City and its crushing financial collapse, died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 50.
His death, in a Manhattan hospital, apparently from complications of a heart attack, was confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel funeral home.
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In 2006, when Richard Chow bought his taxi medallion from the city for $410,000, it seemed like a great idea. The value of medallions was rising steadily, and the Taxi and Limousine Commission was touting them as good long-term investments, so he took out a $358,200 loan. Then came the disruption — Uber, Lyft — and a collapse in the market in 2014. Chow, like thousands of other predominantly immigrant drivers, was left with a medallion he could only resell for perhaps a quarter of its former value, $389,000 in debt, and no hope of retiring.
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Restrictions are lifting, and so, too, are taxi and e-hail app trips.
That’s more passengers for yellow taxi driver Md Azad.
“Before, we make $100, $200. Now, we can make more than $200 every day. That means, it’s good business and so busy,” Azad said.
Continue readingThe Tesla Model 3 is the first electric vehicle approved as a yellow cab in New York City, and the first one has hit the road.
In October 2019, Electrek was first to report that the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which oversees the city’s fleet of yellow cabs, has approved the Tesla Model 3 as the first electric vehicle to be eligible to become a yellow cab in New York City.
Continue readingWith the MTA moving forward with plans to implement congestion pricing, which would be tolls for drivers coming into Manhattan below 60th Street, more and more cab and ride-hailing drivers are worried about how it will impact their income. “Congestion pricing, it’s going to be more money from our pocket,” said …
He bid up the price of medallions and borrowed against them. When their value plummeted, immigrant cabbies were left deep in debt. Gene Freidman, a cabdriver’s son who schemed his way to become the nation’s biggest taxi mogul and came to personify both the inflated ascent of the industry in …
In 2006, when Richard Chow bought his taxi medallion from the city for $410,000, it seemed like a great idea. The value of medallions was rising steadily, and the Taxi and Limousine Commission was touting them as good long-term investments, so he took out a $358,200 loan. Then came the disruption — Uber, …
Restrictions are lifting, and so, too, are taxi and e-hail app trips. That’s more passengers for yellow taxi driver Md Azad. “Before, we make $100, $200. Now, we can make more than $200 every day. That means, it’s good business and so busy,” Azad said.
New York State’s attorney general has accused New York City of committing fraud by significantly inflating the value of yellow taxi medallions and demanded $810 million from the city to compensate the thousands of cabdrivers who are now saddled with debt. The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission marketed the medallions …
From the outside, Manny Anzalota’s yellow cab looks just like all the others cruising around New York City, but for Anzalota, the experience has been anything but ordinary. Each ride is a surprise adventure. Since he began driving a taxi in 2007, his customers have run the gamut from mediterranean …
Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible lending fraud in New York City’s troubled yellow taxi industry. The New York Times reports the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is investigating the lending practices that led thousands of cab drivers to take out high-risk loans that left them buried in debt. …
