Taxis livid about expansion of street hail rights

Starting in January, livery drivers will be allowed to legally accept street hails in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan after Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to improve taxi service and create approximately $1 billion in new tax revenue for the city was passed by the Assembly and the Senate. But not everyone is singing the Mayor’s praises.
On Tuesday, June 14, yellow cabs from New York City surrounded the state capital in a consolidated effort to rally against the legislation that they say would devalue their taxi medallions; some of which have been passed down for generations at a time. The bill authorizes 1,500 more cab medallions and allows as many as 30,000 hail privilege permits to for-hire vehicles at a cost of $1,500 each for three years. David Pollack from the Coalition for Taxi Equality and Justice says that it comes down to simple economics.
“Nobody will pay $680,000 for a medallion when you’re selling the same street hail rights for $1,500 a piece. It’s just not happening,” said Pollack. “If you flood the market with free permits to pick up passengers, then no one will buy that right for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The only way to raise the revenue necessary to avert the Mayor’s doomsday budget is by taking street hail permits out of the equation and just auctioning medallions.”
As reported by WNYC – there are approximately $5 billion in outstanding loans on medallions according to Richard Kay of the League of Mutual Taxi Owners (LOMTO). There are currently about 3,000 owner-drivers out of more than 49,000 licensed drivers operating yellow medallion cabs.
The bill would rely on a permit system that does not have to be approved by the City Council who has historically gone-to-bat for the strong Taxi industry in the past. Bloomberg’s decision to circumvent the council demonstrated that while the taxi industry has pull in the city, their voice did not reach Albany.
“They need to work out the kinks,” said Eileen Kelly of Kelly’s Car Service in Bayside, who said that picking up illegal street hails was never a part of their business model. “Do they really want an additional 30,000 drivers in the street? From what I understand, it would be our option if we didn’t want to pick up street hails, but if we didn’t participate, it would affect our business. We’ll have to wait and see how these changes will affect us.”
The bill now reaches the desk of Governor Andrew Cuomo who has not released any comment about the issue of ending exclusive hail rights to just yellow cabs. If he does not veto the legislation, lawsuits are expected to be filed.
“Unfortunately, residents living in many parts of the city are finding it very difficult to find taxis these days,” said Assemblymember Francisco Moya. “This bill would change that and allow the residents in these underserved areas greater access to taxicab service in and around New York City. Living in or traveling to New York City would be more affordable, sustainable and enjoyable for all.”