At City Hall Protest, Livery Cab Drivers Fight For Their Businesses
Updated 05/26/2011 08:02 PM
Hundreds rallied on the steps of City Hall Thursday to protest a new city plan that will bring up to 6,000 new cabs to the streets, which livery cab drivers said will jeopardize their small businesses. NY1’s Ruschell Boone filed the following report.
Hundreds of livery cab drivers and elected officials rallied outside City Hall earlier today to blast the Taxi and Limousine Commission's plan to expand the number of yellow cabs by 6,000.
As the city plans to put a new fleet of taxis on the road in Upper Manhattan and other boroughs, livery cab drivers took to City Hall in protest. Some said the new cabs will drive them out of business.
“I don't know,” said one cab protester. “That's very bad.”
The Taxi and Limousine Commission is floating a proposal in Albany that could mean as many as 6,000 new cabs plying the streets where livery cars now dominate. These new cabs would be able to pick up street fares, unlike the liveries.
Under the plan, the city would sell 1,500 new yellow taxi medallions for Manhattan. For every pair of medallions purchased, businesses would get six free for use outside of most of Manhattan. Individuals would get one free.
Each of those yellow medallions would cost anywhere from $650,000 to $950,000. Some drivers and base owners said they can't afford the medallions without financing.
“100 percent from the city, otherwise when they say five percent deposit down, that goes to $50,000,” said Kane Mamadou, president of the African Cab Drivers Association. “We don't have that.”
900 medallions would be sold to corporations and 600 to individuals, which would generate over $1 billion for the city.
Many at the protest didn't seem to mind the sale of additional yellow cab medallions but said that they don't want the new taxis in the boroughs outside of Manhattan.
“We have 22,800 vehicles, registered legal vehicles by TLC,” said Cira Angeles, president of the Livery base Owners Association. “We also have 459 small businesses that will suffer and not be able to co-exist if our economic model is not recognized in this plan.”
The people at the rally said they will continue to protest this plan. If nothing changes, they are considering a strike.
After the protest, TLC Commissioner David Yassky said via a statement that the TLC wants to help drivers out with financing, adding, "For decades, city law has forced taxis outside of Manhattan into an underground economy that disservices both passengers and drivers, and we are trying to change that law.”
Source; http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_st ... businesses
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