Anti-Illegal Street Hail Enforcement Begins

As the New York Post reported, the TLC has started enforcement against illegal pick-ups thanks to our agreement!  Under the plan, the TLC has taken TLC inspectors currently assigned to general enforcement against yellow cabs and redirected them to target illegal pick ups.  For the first time in the TLC's 40-year history, inspectors will be used to protect taxi driver income.  We will go from less than five inspectors to over 60 by September 2011.  By January 2012, there will be close to 90 inspectors in the first-ever anti-illegal street hails enforcement unit.  The undercover officers will concentrate at hotels, transportation hubs, tourist attractions, the Meatpacking District, midtown Manhattan and airports during rush hours.  The TLC will also use GPS and other technologies and, by Fall this year, establish contracts with tow pounds so an unlimited number of private plates can be towed.  This is just the beginning.

We came out on Friday, July 22nd, to see the crackdown against illegal pick-ups in action. This limousine was ticketed, while other private cars were towed in downtown Manhattan.

Hotline To Report Illegal Pick-Ups:

917-652-6868  

To monitor the enforcement plan and keep making it better, we need you!  Be ours eyes and ears on the street so we can watch over the TLC's enforcement!  NYTWA has set up a hotline for you to call and report any illegal pick-ups (by TLC plates or private plates) that you witness in Manhattan, the airports, or anywhere else in the city!  You can also report illegal hotel bribes to the hotline.  We will use the information in regular monthly meetings with the TLC's Deputy Commissioner of Enforcement.       

For the new Livery Bill to go into effect, it must be signed by Governor Cuomo.  Both Mayor Bloomberg and the Senate bill sponsor, Martin Golden, expect for him to approve the legislation, but  a few additional amendments are postponing the process.  One is the proposal to apply the same 50-cent MTA surcharge per fare to the livery cars that yellow cabs currently bear.  Other considerations involve measures by which to make sure that the liveries do not pick up fares where they aren't allowed to do so.   

Garages and brokers want to keep their monopoly on private taxis in the city of New York.  They have ruled this industry with an iron fist for generations. In 1971, the medallion was valued in the $30,000's.  In June 2011, a mini-fleet (two corporate medallions) sold for $1,950,000. Driver incomes are the same.  After 9/11, when our business was destroyed, the garages lobbied for a lease cap increase.  When our incomes plummeted from high gas prices following Katrina, the garages sued to stop hybrids.  When the livery taxi issue was raised, they lobbied for free medallions and were ready to sacrifice us for the slaughter.

The garages and brokers don't face refusal summonses.  In fact, when the City Council voted to raise the penalties on refusals, the garages and brokers supported the bill.  The garages and brokers also don't face the anger of the riders who feel underserved.  Their profit is from the medallion value which comes from trading inside the industry.  We depend on rider support for day to day income, safety and fare raises.  

Telling the Governor to veto the bill protects the monopoly garages and brokers have in this industry.  It does nothing for us.  When passengers say that yellow cabs don't serve their neighborhood, it doesn't affect the garages and brokers interest.  It affects only the drivers.  If the Governor vetoes, the drivers will face more problems.  The garages and brokers will be more powerful.

Garages and brokers are defeated and desperate.  They offered drivers up to $500 to drive up to Albany with them.  They are handing out flyers badmouthing NYTWA and calling our historic agreement "meaningless benefits."  They have also hired non-drivers claiming to work for NYTWA to get drivers to sign a petition to the Governor calling for a veto.  And they are sending drivers commands through GPS to call the Governor or attend a rally.  It appears that they have spent so much money trying to bribe politicians that they are now also asking drivers to pay $20 every month for a lobbying fund.  Of course, these are the same people who won't give even $5 credit if the car breaks down or you are injured.  Keep up driver unity!  Keep showing garages and brokers that we are not for sale!

MTBOT:  Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade.  Oldest garage trade association in the industry.  President is Ron Sherman, owner of Midtown Garage and GPS vendor, CMT.

GNYTA:  Greater New York Taxi Association.  Garage association.  Owner members own hybrid taxis, marking its main difference from MTBOT.

CTS:  Committee for Taxi Safety.  Brokers Association.  President is Neil Greenbaum, owner of All Taxi Management and Hereford Insurance.  Executive Director is David Pollack, publisher of Taxi Insider.  Ever wonder why the paper has so many ads from brokers?  Now you know.

LOMTO:  League of Mutual Taxi Owners.  Has credit union for financing medallions.  Supported GPS.  Historically sides with garages and brokers on industry issues.    

NYS Federation and Fernando Mateo:  Free agent millionaire, once the mouthpiece of City Hall, now the mouthpiece of the garages.  Supported GPS.  Said there should be no lease cap and garages/brokers should be able to charge whatever they want of drivers.  Friend of Mayor Giuliani.  In June, protested livery drivers getting summonses for illegal pick-ups.  In July, claiming to represent taxi drivers.  Next month, we're not sure who he will claim to represent.

After the Mayor announced during his State of the City address that he wanted to give liveries street hail rights in the outer boroughs, taxi garages and brokers came up with two plans of their own.

First, they lobbied the City Council and the Mayor to sell 900 new medallions and require every working taxi driver (including owner-operators) to work one full shift only in the outer boroughs.  The garages/brokers said the TLC could use GPS to ticket drivers who, on their outer borough shifts, were working in Manhattan and the airports.  NYTWA fought against the plan.  It would have been a disaster for over 40,000 taxi drivers who would be burning fuel and paying sky high leases on those shifts.  Basically, the wealthy garages/brokers wanted the drivers to provide charity 12-hour back-breaking labor.  Because of NYTWA's opposition, the city pushed the garages/brokers to come up with a different lease amount for those shifts.  Of course, the garages/brokers refused and instead dropped their idea.

Next, the garages/brokers lobbied for the city to sell 1,500 new regular yellow medallions and give six free outer borough medallions for every one mini-fleet medallion.  (They know from the past 15 years that the medallion price shoots up during an auction, so they were more than happy to propose new medallions.)  So for two corporate medallions (considered one mini-fleet), the big owners would get twelve free outer borough medallions.  The original plan included zero free outer borough medallions for owner-operators.  They then changed the plan to include one free outer borough medallion for one owner-driver medallion.  It was because of this garage/broker plan that the 1,500 new medallions were proposed.  They were never part of the Mayor's original plan announced in February.  The garages' proposal was introduced as legislation by State Assemblyman Carl Heastie, Chairman of the NYS Assembly City Committee.  The bill memo stated, "The taxi industry supports the plan."  In fact, MTBOT and the New York State Federation took out a full-page ad in the Daily News promoting this plan.  They lobbied not only city and state politicians, but also labor unions and community groups to support the 1,500 regular medallions and 6,000 outer borough medallions, saying the money could go for firehouses and teachers.  They never mentioned once the money going to drivers' benefits or even enforcement against the illegal pick-ups.

It's clear from the public response that the Mayor wants to address street hail service in the outer boroughs.  If the Governor doesn't sign the bill, the garages/brokers have only this plan to fall back on:  get free medallions for themselves and put the entire burden on us.  And who were the garages and brokers main political supporters?  City Council leadership.  

A TLC proposal, backed by the Alliance, that would grant drivers rooftop approval rights, resulted in a contentious July TLC public hearing.  Brokers virtually hit the roof over the plan.

Alliance Organizing Committee member, Mohan Singh, told the commissioners that the rooftop ads drain the car battery and increase gas consumption (upping driver costs as well).  Ad content, especially strip club and alcohol ads, were deemed objectionable by Singh.  Driver and NYTWA staff member, Asim Akhtar, noted that some brokers charge drivers money if they refuse ads.

DOV drivers supporting the plan contend that the present situation interferes with private property rights.  On the other hand, one rule change opponent claimed the proposal would interfere with private contract rights.  Ignored was the issue of ad revenue.  Currently, brokers keep all ad income.

With two commissioners absent, chairman David Yassky postponed voting on the matter until the September 15th public hearing.