Immigrant Cabbie Slain in Jamaica

Gurdev Lals fear of driving his livery cab nights proved fatally accurate last week in Jamaica when two gunmen emptied their guns in the back of his head.
The Corona driver was the first livery cab fatality in a year. Witnesses said Lal was a good samaritan known for the favors he did for neighbors.
"When I heard the news I felt so bad," said Lals landlord, Walter Nohar. "He did so many favors for people on the street. He doesnt look for money. Moneys not his thing."
The tragic episode occurred at about 7:30 p.m., when two youths playing basketball nearby heard two shots and saw two men seated in Lals stopped car and run away. "He was always afraid to work at night," said Lals roommate, Singh. "7:30 was a bad time." The death of the driver, an Indian, whose wife and three grown children live in Punjab, precipitated an attack on City Hall by the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.
They put off a rally and vigil scheduled for this week to mark the 12-month respite from murders of livery cab drivers. "We believe Lals death was in vain," said Fernando Mateo, president of the Federation.
The outcry came over reported inaction by the City Council to approve funding for tracking devices that could silently alert police to drivers in danger.
"Why did we have to wait 10 years and 243 deaths before something was done?" Mateo asked. "Whats more important? Ferrets or human lives?"
But City Council Speaker Peter Vallone said the tracking device, which has some technical difficulties, may or may not have helped save Lal."
"Its a human tragedy," he said. "And we keep doing whatever we can to try and stop that from happening again."
Mayor Rudy Giuliani had this to say:
"The reality is anytime an attack takes place, its really horrible, and well do everything we can to try to figure out what can we do to make things safer."