By Alexander Dworkowitz
A Flushing cab company that drew attention to itself with its large billboard on Northern Boulevard has been hit with two violations for operating illegally, the city Taxi and Limousine Commission said.
The TLC issued two summonses to one of the drivers of the Flushing-based Happy Taxi Service last week, a spokesman for the TLC said.
The commission launched its investigation of Happy Taxi following complaints about the company’s new billboard on Northern Boulevard and 162nd Street.
In what was called a “Bait, Fish and Hook Operation,” a TLC employee called for a driver of Happy Taxi to come for a pickup. When the driver arrived, the employee asked if the car was for hire, and the driver said it was, the spokesman said.
The driver, however, did not have a license to use a livery cab and was issued two summonses, one for operating an illegal for hire vehicle and the other for operating against the best interest of the public, the spokesman said.
The TLC seized the driver’s car, a 1999 Toyota Avalon, the spokesman said.
The company itself does not have a license to dispatch cabs, the spokesman said.
“The TLC has a zero-tolerance policy against illegal operation of car service bases and will take enforcement action against any such egregious violations of the law,” TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus said in a statement.
The TLC was continuing to investigate Happy Taxi, which was still operating as of press time.
An employee of Happy Taxi who answered the telephone said the company’s owner was out of town and could not comment.
About two weeks ago, a 20-by-60-foot sign went up on top of a two-story building on Northern Boulevard that is not connected to the taxi company.
Five Korean characters reading “Happy Taxi Service” appear on the billboard along with the company’s telephone number.
The sign is highly visible since it sits at a curve in Northern Boulevard.
Civic leaders objected to both the billboard’s size and the fact that no English appears on it.
“It is a total disgrace,” said Mary Anderson, president of the East Flushing Civic Association. “It is targeting certain people in Flushing. It’s not a community sign. We can’t read it. I think it’s an insult to all Flushing residents.”
Eugene Kelty, chairman of Community Board 7, said the board had received numerous complaints about the billboard.
“Any type of sign that goes up should always be tactful,” he said.
A spokesman for the Buildings Department said the city was looking into whether the building’s owner had the proper permits to put up the sign.
The spokesman noted that there is no city law requiring signs to have English on them, saying only an old state law that is rarely enforced governs the language of signs.
Steve Yun, executive director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, a Flushing-based Korean rights group, called Happy Taxi after he learned about the controversy surrounding the billboard.
Yun said a manager of Happy Taxi told him that the company was willing to add English to the sign but was waiting for the owner to return to the country.
He said the manager told him he thought those who complained about the sign were “very jealous and even racist.”
Yun said he recommended the company’s owners put English on the sign but added it was their right to do whatever they wanted.
“They know their business better than myself. It’s their decision,” he said.
Anderson, however, wondered why the advertisement was allowed to remain, given that the city had found Happy Taxi was operating illegally.
“How can you promote something that is not even licensed?” she asked.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 141.
