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Checker cabbie flagged
Judge metes out fine of $200 for 'free' rides
BY PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Ray Kottner, 78, leaves TLC offices in Queens yesterday. He was hit with a $200 fine.
A judge slammed the brakes on an old-time cabbie who offers free rides in his vintage Checker taxi - hitting him with a $200 fine yesterday.
The judge found that 78-year-old Ray Kottner - who says he accepts only donations and tips from some passengers - broke the rules of the road when he took money from a passenger even though his Checker cab is not licensed with the city Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Kottner - a feisty World War II veteran whose only-in-New-York free-ride policy was featured recently in the Daily News - vowed to appeal.
"Those little judges don't know what they are doing," Kottner said after the hearing before TLC administrative law judge Carmena Schwecke in Queens.
He said he will put his unique fare policy on hold while he continues the fight.
The ruling was more bad news for Kottner: His rig recently broke down. "Nobody knows how to fix that car," he said. "I have to find some old-timers who know about fixing that car."
Kottner argued that the TLC, which regulates for-hire vehicles and drivers, lacks the authority to ground him or his yellow relic. "My car is not, and never will be, for hire," he told Schwecke.
Kottner's cab is adorned with signs declaring rides are free. Passengers are told there is no charge - but donations for gas and maintenance are accepted.
As The News witnessed one day last month, passengers become instantly smitten with Kottner, appreciating his wisecracks and stories of a long-gone New York. They often pay him more than what they would owe if there were a meter on the battered dashboard.
Wearing a Bronx sweatshirt and a woolen winter hat with "taxi" stitched on it, Kottner testified he has regular passengers, including waitresses and bartenders who work on Manhattan's West Side. Some live as far away as the Bronx and Hoboken, he said, and he routinely refuses any dough. "They don't make a lot of money," he said. "I take them home for free."
Two TLC inspectors testified that they observed Kottner take money from a passenger after a ride in Manhattan on Oct. 9. The passenger told Inspector Diane Rodriguez he paid $10 for the trip, she testified.
A friend of Kottner's, Paul Portnoy, testified he took a ride from the cabbie that night and forked over some money. But he insisted he was repaying a loan and the ride was free.
The judge didn't buy it.
And Rodriguez said Portnoy was not the passenger she saw.
Kottner has a hack license and drove for various fleets for more than five decades before launching his free service.
TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus said unregistered cabs pose a danger because they are not inspected by the agency and may not have the level of insurance the TLC requires.
Such requirements are important for passengers' safety, Daus said. "We're trying to protect them."
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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
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