Manhattan, NY – Taxi Service Refused to City Councilman

    18

    New York, NY – In Manhattan, filled with taxis, you would figure that a city council member would have no problem hailing a cab.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    “I have always had trouble hailing cabs and it is widespread,” City Councilman James Sanders said.

    Councilman James Sanders had it happen again: he and his daughter just had lunch and then tried to hail a cab in SoHo to take her to Yonkers.

    The Councilman and his daughter walked over to the cab stand thinking it might be easier to get a cab. “Two of them said they were off duty. A third claimed he didn’t go there. At that point I picked up the phone and called the Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission,” Sanders said.

    “I heard the driver just decline and drive away. That is absolutely unacceptable,” said David Yassky, the Commissioner of the T.L.C.

    “He pulled away and went 20 feet away and picked up a nice white couple, took them wherever,” Sanders said.

    “Its hell as a black man getting a cab in New York City,” Sanders said.

    In this case the commissioner promises there will be justice. “It’s a $500 penalty. So that’s real money. And you know certainly the driver in this case will receive a summons,” Yassky said.

    But Councilman Sanders knows on past experience alone that it will happen again.


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    18 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    awacs
    awacs
    12 years ago

    “Its hell as a black man getting a cab in New York City,” Sanders said.

    Yes, we Chassidim DEFINITELY empathize with you on this one. When I’m with my wife, I hide and let her hail the cab. 🙂

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    What does he mean they picked up a “nice white couple”….that too is a racist atitude. It works both ways. Clearly he should be able to hail a cab unless, of course, the driver was going off duty soon and didn’t want to drive out to Yonkers.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    What does he mean they picked up a “nice white couple”….that too is a racist atitude. It works both ways. Clearly he should be able to hail a cab unless, of course, the driver was going off duty soon and didn’t want to drive out to Yonkers.

    shredready
    shredready
    12 years ago

    the only way we know for sure if a white guy asked to go to Yonkers and the same drivers said yes

    otherwise maybe Yonkers was the problem

    12 years ago

    Maybe they should come up with this so called “taxi lane”, so they won’t have to worry about traffic into and out of the outer boroughs. The only problem is, u’ll have bikers and pedestrians gettin’ killed left to right.

    12 years ago

    Why can’t you understand. The law is regardless where the person wants to go they must take them. The law states clearly that the driver has no choice if he wants to go to Yonkers or over the Williamsburgh Bridge or not. He must go. Thats the law if the person is black, chassidic or white or any color in between.

    12 years ago

    Taxi medallions are regulated by the city. As are taxi fares and taxi rules.

    Voice-of-Reason
    Voice-of-Reason
    12 years ago

    This happens to chareidim in Israel as well.

    DACON9
    DACON9
    12 years ago

    At $4.00 a gallon of gas plus the 2 hrs round trip
    and being paid rightfully only for one way….
    ITS NOT RACISM…. ITS ANTI OBAMA…
    Taxi was saying…’I CANT AFFORD TO BE NICE ANYMORE….”

    ( and JUST MAYBE the ‘nice white’ couple was only going UP TOWN one mile away,
    so who is racist here? I think the councilman by his assessment )

    Grumpy
    Grumpy
    12 years ago

    Many service providers, particularly cabbies (who work independently and typically left to fend for themselves), avoid dealing with black people because they are notorious for being disrespectful, demanding, argumentative, abusive, tipping or tipping very little, or when reaching their destination, jumping out of the cab without paying.

    More important, blacks represent a considerably higher-than-typical risk to the driver that he will be robbed, beaten, shot, or killed.

    Many black people like the Congressman, who seems as upstanding as they come, are the tragic victims of a psychotic, violent black culture created over the past 50 years by short-sighted and intrinsically racist social ideologies promoted and legislated by liberals.

    12 years ago

    According to a couple of replies here, it’s Obama’s fault or the liberals’ fault that a taxi driver broke the law. And one reply promoted Sanders from city council to Congress! VIN comments are always good for a laugh.