Results tagged “cab”

Taking a cue from Flatbush Avenue’s Dollar Vans, some yellow cabs will begin running on routes with predetermined stops where passengers can get on and off. Best of all, the credit card swipe for these “group rides” will be significantly less costly than in a single-payer situation. In Midtown Manhattan the group rides will be available during the morning rush hour from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. "The concept really boils down to: take less money out of passengers’ pockets, put more money in drivers’ pockets, put less pollution in the air, and give passengers more transportation options," said outgoing Taxi and Limousine Commission chief Matt Daus. more ›

On January 29th, TLC agents began enforcing strict new laws and penalties for cab drivers who use hand held electronic devices and cell phones—even hands-free! Since the crackdown began, the city has ticketed 704 taxi drivers, with the first offense carrying a hefty $200 fine. But has the ticket blitz gone too far? more ›

Bank robber Robert Krieg and his 32-year-old accomplice John Gregg rode in cabs to some of the banks they held up, and had drivers run the meter while they made off with the money. Taking cabs allowed them to get around town fast and made for a quick getaway but, at least for Krieg, it ultimately led to arrest after a cabbie commandeered his ID and described him to the cops. more ›

Checker cabs are a thing of the past, so what does the taxi of tomorrow look like? Well, maybe you can have a say... more ›

On Friday the Taxi and Limousine Commission began enforcing more strict rules and penalties for cab drivers who use hands-free cell phones or any electronic device capable of making non-emergency phone calls or texting, as well as music players and GPS locators. To make drivers comply, the TLC put enforcement agents outside Grand Central Terminal to check cabs as they drove past. By yesterday morning, a total of 142 summonses had been issued by TLC agents. Fox 5, on the other hand, sent a reporter on repeated cab rides and didn't find a single driver using an electronic device. more ›

Yesterday's new statewide crackdown on cell phone use among taxi drivers had city cabs very very quiet. The expensive new penalty for use of a mobile phone (even with a hands-free attachment) or other personal electronic gadget including a gaming device and music player is $200. Most weren’t willing to risk it; by Friday afternoon traffic cops had dispensed just 13 summonses and passengers were pleased about the quiet new riding environment. But city cabbies were saying it was a bad call. more ›

The era of cabbies loudly yammering on their cell phones should officially end tomorrow, with the enforcement of the TLC's new penalties beginning for any driver caught using electronic devices. Any driver not legally parked and found using any electronic device—iPods, cellphones, satellite radios and GPS devices—will be fined $200 and be sent to a "rules refresher" course. A second infraction means a suspended license, and a third gets it revoked. So what will this mean for passengers? more ›

Yesterday afternoon a cab burst into flames on Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn! Sure, we've seen cabs on fire before — but we still want answers as to why the Crown Victorias seem to be spontaneously combusting. The Brooklyn Eagle reports on yesterday's incident, noting it only took a few minutes before the car was engulfed in flames and charred. The driver told them he was driving two passengers over the Brooklyn Bridge when he noticed there was smoke coming out of the hood. He recalls, "It was just a little smoke. I pulled over and told the passengers to get out. When I opened the hood, I saw it was on fire so I called 911." Neither the passengers nor driver were injured. more ›

While a new Checker cab hasn't rolled off the line for nearly 30 years, and the iconic NYC symbols haven't actually been a part of the taxi fleet for nearly 10... the company has still been operating. CityRoom notes that they transformed into a manufacturer of car parts for General Motors, but this week, Checker Motors has called it quits after going bankrupt. 78-year-old owner David Markin told them: “It’s finished. Our family is very distressed about the closing of the company. But it became inevitable." His father Morris, a Russian immigrant, started the company in 1922. more ›

A reader tells us that this taxi "slid and wedged itself between two parked cars at 12th and 2nd Avenue today around 8:40 a.m. Apparently he was in there so tight that he had to wait for the drivers of the other vehicles to move in order to free himself. Notice the cars in the intersection going the wrong way making u-turns to avoid the blocked street. Pure wintery chaos…" Indeed! On that note, if you find yourself behind the wheel tonight: be safe! more ›

The tops of 500 New York City taxis are about to become an art exhibit on wheels. Throughout January, the Las Vegas-based company that owns about half of the city's taxi-top ads will install 14- by 48-inch artworks by Shirin Neshat, Alex Katz, and Yoko Ono above cabs, the Times reports. more ›

It's actually against the rules for cab drivers to use cell phones while driving—even hands-free. But the restriction is routinely shrugged off, so yesterday the Taxi and Limousine Commission Thursday unanimously approved more severe penalties for scofflaws. Hacks who yak will now face fines, a 30-day suspension for two violations and loss of license for three violations in 15 months. The previous rule, passed in 1999, only banned talking on cellphones, but the new restrictions also ban the use of any technology capable of making non-emergency phone calls or texting. more ›

Ever Twitter about a frustrating cab ride only to have it get lost in the masses of people who do not care that your driver won't take you to Brooklyn? Well now there's Taxihack! You can email or Twitter your complaints and praise in (everyone includes medallion numbers), and there's even a Lost & Found section to help out other passengers. more ›

Are city cabbies making "sun tea" in their vehicles? Of the 44,000 TLC drivers on the streets, most working 12 hour days, you can imagine how difficult it is for them to find a place they can relieve themselves. So many allegedly "resort to going in the street or peeing in bottles stowed under their seats." more ›

You might remember back in May when the Taxi & Limousine Commission threatened the public with three new pilot programs that would reduce congestion by packing more fares into fewer cars. Well, unlike most pilot programs, it appears this one is actually happening, and as soon as next month. TLC announced Thursday that they will be setting up three locations where two or more riders and/or strangers can hop into a single cab for a discounted fare—and possibly a missed connection. more ›

The cab driver seen on surveillance video getting pummeled on Halloween by two men costumed as Super Mario Brothers spoke out about his ordeal at a rally for taxi driver safety yesterday. Senegalese immigrant Ndiaye Serigne, 48, told reporters, "I was really scared....At the time, I really think I'm going to die." Serigne says he was driving four costumed men back to Staten Island around 4 a.m. on November 1st when one turned off the meter, reached into his pocket, and grabbed $210. "Now it's a free ride," the suspect said. more ›

It's unclear what, if anything, this has to do with rescuing the princess, but the Super Mario Bros. roughed up a cab driver on Staten Island on Halloween. They were caught on video by a gas station surveillance camera, and the whole thing would be a lot more amusing—the Post calls it a "joystick-up"—if these bastards weren't actually, you know, beating somebody up. (Or if the driver was dressed like a turtle.) more ›

Cab driver Medhat Mohamed has been given a bad rep for kicking a couple out of his cab, and now the NY Post's Andrea Peyser is standing up for him — giving him a lexical embrace, if you will. more ›

Bad news for the cabbie who kicked the embracing gay couple to the curb on Monday night — Mayor Bloomberg has gotten involved! The NY Post reports that he declared everyone has the right to ride in a cab (duh), and added, "I thought the taxi driver's behavior -- if it is as reported -- was a disgrace. Somebody's orientation has absolutely nothing to do with whether they can ride a taxi. That kind of attitude doesn't fit with what this city's become." more ›

It's a game of he said/he said with this story of a gay couple being kicked to the curb by a cabbie. Paul Bruno and his partner were allegedly embracing in Medhat Mohamed's cab Monday night in the East Village, when they say the driver tossed them, declaring: "Hugging is not allowed in here!" more ›

A cabbie is being called out for kicking a gay couple to the curb after they dared embrace in his car. The G-rated PDA caused Medhat Mohamed to allegedly toss the two out just two blocks after he had picked them up at 13th Street and First Avenue around 10:20 p.m. Monday night. more ›

Yesterday a 50-cent surcharge was tacked on to taxi fares as part of the state's MTA bailout, starting a cab ride with a $3 base fee... and no one is happy about it. more ›

Last night around 9 p.m. two cabs crashed into scaffolding at Broadway and East 8th Street. A witness on the scene told WCBS "that one of the cabs tried to overtake the other before the two collided and careened across Broadway at the corner of E. 8th Street, jumping the curb and coming to rest on the sidewalk under the scaffolding." (There's some video of the aftermath after the jump.) more ›

Just after 9 p.m. tonight reports came over the newswire of a scaffolding accident on East 8th Street and Broadway. This is a photo of the scene, where two taxis are trapped under the scaffolding. Reportedly there were six victims being transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. more ›

If you hate waiting for a cab at the airport, then imagine how the cab drivers feel, waiting hours at a time in a holding pen before being allowed to pick up passengers at a terminal. Surely there is some way to match up the waiting passenger with the waiting taxi. No? Anyway, the Daily News reports that some drivers were paying their way to the front of the line. All whilst passengers just stood there like suckers, not bribing a soul in their own line. more ›

It's already illegal for cab drivers to use cell phones while driving—even hands-free—but that law's even more scoffed at than the city's futile jaywalking prohibition! So now the Taxi and Limousine Commission is taking on the seemingly impossible task of separating hacks from their phones, by proposing heavy new punishments for gabby cabbies. more ›

A Fox 5 cameraman happened to be shooting footage near the Ed Sullivan Theater yesterday for a segment on taxi medallions when an angry brawl exploded between a pedicab driver and a cabbie. It starts when the pedicab driver, fed up with the hack honking his horn behind him, tosses a cup of coffee at the cab's passenger-side window. You gonna take that cabbie? Not in New York! Check it out: more ›

Yesterday just after noon we reported that a cab had collided with a horse and buggy on the Upper East Side. While we received plenty of photos and video of the aftermath, showing the wrecked car and carriage, there was no sight of the horse. more ›

Reader Daniel Jeffries sent us this picture of a cab at the corner of West End Avenue and West 106th Street—and we really hope no one was injured, either in the cab or on the street/sidewalk. While car mishaps are not unusual, let's just go over the past few weeks: On Thursday, a cab suddenly caught fire in Midtown (are they firetraps); last week, another overturned in Chelsea; on August 18, a cab struck the West 72nd Street subway station (no charges filed, of course); and on August 14, a little boy was fatally struck by a cab driver (the driver wasn't charged, but it also turns out he had many moving violations, enough for his license to be pulled). more ›

FDNY officials have confirmed that no one was injured in yesterday morning's spectacular taxi fire, but they have yet to determine the inferno's cause. According to the Post, a passenger was in the cab when it ignited around 9:30 a.m., while stopped at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street. Apparently, the cabby pulled over at the light because his meter had stopped running, and both escaped the 2007 Ford Crown Victoria as it burst into flames. more ›