More on this story:
New livery cab law in outer boroughs finally makes New Yorkers out of 'bridge people'
Wednesday, June 29th 2011, 4:00 AM
Hailing livery cabs from the street finally treats residents of
Upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs like New Yorkers
The so-called "bridge people" - New Yorkers who, like me, live in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan - have high hopes of finally feeling a little less like second-class citizens.
That's because for the first time we will be able to legally hail a livery cab.
But only if Gov. Cuomo signs into law a bill that, after months of debate, was approved by the Legislature last week legalizing street hails for livery cabs. Cuomo hasn't taken a position on this issue yet.
"I applaud the New York State Legislature for passing this bill," said Councilman Ydanis Rodríguez (D-upper Manhattan).
"This is a win-win situation as people who have the financial resources to buy a [yellow cab] medallion will be able to do so, and our working-class livery taxi drivers, who have provided much needed services to this city for decades, will now for the first time in history be allowed to legally respond to street hails."
As the law now stands, only yellow cabs are authorized to pick up passengers on the street, because allowing livery cabs to do the same would, supposedly, take business away from yellow cabs.
To get a livery cab, you have to call the livery company (or base), then a dispatcher contacts a driver, who then picks you up. Imagine Manhattanites doing all this to get a cab.
The way things work right now for the people who live outside of Manhattan and north of 125th St. doesn't make much sense. After all, yellow cabs have been an extinct species in those areas for as long as anybody can remember.
"Liveries are not taking any business from yellow cabs," said waitress Rocío García, while at the Junction Blvd. subway station on the No. 7 line in Queens. "I don't even remember seeing a yellow cab around here for a long time."
The bill would create up to 30,000 new "Hail Privilege Vehicle Permits," which would allow livery cabs to legally pick up street hails in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs.
The permits would cost $1,500 each, making them affordable for livery drivers who typically earn between $500 and $700 a week, Rodríguez said.
The bill also allows the Taxi and Limousine Commission to sell up to 1,500 new yellow cab medallions valued at nearly $700,000.
If the bill becomes law, livery cabs will be able to pick up street hails beginning in January. Mayor Bloomberg, who introduced the measure two weekends ago, seems to have no doubt it will happen.
"Starting next year, transportation options for New Yorkers who live in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and upper Manhattan will improve dramatically," Bloomberg said .
"This should have happened years ago," said Maria Mondragon, a Romanian immigrant who said she has lived in Astoria, Queens, for 15 years.
"Because we don't live in Manhattan we are punished by the yellow taxis? It's not fair," she said.
Don't tell that to the yellow taxi industry, who did its best to derail the bill, although as residents of the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan keep telling everybody, it's easier to see snow in August than a yellow cab in those parts.
Despite the yellow cab industry objections, something is undeniable: We, the "bridge people," are already feeling a little more like real New Yorkers.
Imagine, we are about to be able to legally do what we have been doing for years anyway: hail a cab!
Source; http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bro ... oughs.html
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