5 boro bike tour this sunday

For Saturday I recommend the usual summer thing for weekend day shifters, check the DOT website, and stay tuned intermittently to the traffic stations.

But for Sunday, this is a big one, one of the major weekend days of the year to look out for. When the bike tour starts in the morning, 6th Avenue is closed and you can't cross it until all the bikes have passed it. For those few hours 6th Avenue becomes like a wall for traffic and the only way to go from East to West is to either go around the FDR to WS HWY under Battery Park or to cross in the Central Park Transverses. Soon enough though, the bikers move on and they are out of our hair when they ride through Central Park. The FDR and Harlem River Drive Combo gets closed though, there should be warnings posted on the digital displays on the Manhattan Bridge Upper Roadway, and also on the FDR Drive a few days in advance with times posted. If you're in Brooklyn along the northern edge by the East river, or Astoria and LIC Queens you can really get into a mess, stuck in several walls where it feels like they are pushing you through circles. There is more info most likely at the DOT traffic advisory website-The DOT weekend Page There is a specific page on all the street closures, however I don't see where they post the specific times- Specific Streets Page Here!

If we're lucky, the radio will tell us the time that the bike tour starts, Trinity Place and 6th Avenue will probably get closed even an hour in advance. If we're really lucky the radio will tell us where the bikers are, and which streets are getting closed and which ones are opening, however the radio is usually an hour behind in their reports. If you're driving in the early morning at about 5 to 6 am in downtown you will see groups of bikers and cars with bikes getting larger and larger. I have to say there is something very special about coasting slowly down an avenue with no other motor vehicles, being surrounded by bicyclists, it's really fantastic and surreal. If I remember correctly, the Trinity Pl and 6th Avenue wall to traffic unleashes the bikes at about 6am. Best bet would probably be to hang out uptown and rely on Central Park if you have to cross 6th Avenue.

Additionally there are plenty of special street closing events on Saturday and Sunday as well. You should check the DOT Page especially if you're a day driver. Also here is the link to a large map of the bike route - The Map

ATM MACHINE ON WHEELS

Over two weeks ago a fellow driver at my garage picked up his final fare of the shift at the Port Authority. They asked to be driven to Crown Heights. It was a silent ride. At the destination the passenger pulled out a gun and asked the driver for cash. Mind you this was around 4:00 on a weekday afternoon. Broad daylight in the Chassidic part of town. He only lost some change and was thankful for his life, as he stood there in line at the garage, telling us fellow drivers the story. There isn't much we can do as cabdrivers to avoid such a situation. Just try to stay safe.

Increasingly Common Congestion

Beware of the Park Avenue Viaduct southbound (downtown) on weekdays. Back before August 2008 this elevated ramp alongside Grand Central Terminal and its corresponding Murray Hill tunnel bypassed the busy crosstown thoroughfares of 34th and 42nd. That is still the case, but only for northbound traffic. Downtown-bound traffic has in fact worsened to the point it makes no sense to be on the viaduct. Take Lexington or 5th around instead. What put a halt to two-way traffic in the tunnel back in 2008 was the need to protect pedestrian safety on 33rd Street.

More Sunday stuff-- via Gridlock Sam

Gridlock Sam can be found on Facebook, and Twitter, and also via the NY Daily News.

They include these block parties not mentioned in my previous post, but they might also give an easier to understand explanation of the March of dimes walk, and where it will be. Remember since it is a walk, different parts might open and close at different times, i presume while the upper west side, and also the upper east at lexington and west will suck early on, they may open up earlier too.

Gridlock Sam Schwartz Sunday Block parties: E 11St, 2nd Ave to 3rd Ave 10A - 6P E 75St, Lexington Ave to Park Ave 11A - 3P W 120St Bway to Amsterdam Noon - 7P

Gridlock Sam Schwartz Sunday, March of Dimes March 62st at Lincoln Center 9am to 2pm Route takes 65st through Central Park to Lexington, Lex to 23rd St.

fyi- the DOT site says they will then walk up 23rd to the park at Madison avenue, so that whole spot might be very bad.

Gridlock Sam Schwartz Tomorrow, Duke Ellington Blvd. Neighborhood Assoc.Street Festival 11 AM - 6 PM drivers avoid Broadway, between W 104th St and W 108th St

Summer is here, and with that comes street closures

Scroll Down far below for the most important street closures of Sunday! I'm talking about the March of Dimes walk from Columbus and 65th to Madison Avenue and 23rd, via Lexington Avenue!! Times and specifics are listed below, scroll down to the bullet point marked VERY IMPORTANT!

Today: Saturday, there were some big ones, 3rd avenue was closed from 23rd to 34th for a street fair, so was 8th avenue from 14th to 23rd. Then there was the Sikh Parade on Madison Avenue up to the 40's maybe, but that was very short. It all brings up the fact that it's time to do this again, it's time to make note of what streets on Saturdays and Sundays will be closed, in advance. All information is likely to be wrong, but more likely to be right. Your best bet is to look up the information as I have presented below it can be found at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/wkndtraf.shtml, and when traffic is light, you should explore each street when empty to see what things will be like when things get heavy. Check the news radio stations at their traffic update intervals to see if they give you any more info. AM 1130 is supposed to update on the 5's (ie 11:35) AM 880 is supposed to update on the 8's (ie 9:28) however both these stations sometimes get sidetracked with either their guests, or baseball, and the best station of course is AM 1010, updating on the 10's, really the 11's (9:30/9:31)

Oh and at 66th street this day they had it closed for a crane between Park Avenue and Madison!!

Anyway here are the noteworthy streets for tomorrow, copied from the DOT website:

East 16th Street between Union Square East and Irving Place: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 6pm to facilitate crane operation.

West 17th Street between 6th Avenue and 5th Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 6pm to facilitate crane operation.

Side note- the two above streets were not closed today, so they will very likely be closed on Sunday!

East 18th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 6pm to facilitate crane operation.

West 26th Street between 8th Avenue and 7th Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 6pm to facilitate crane operation.

West 39th Street between 9th Avenue and 8th Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 6pm to facilitate crane operation.

West 41st Street between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 12:01am to 8am to facilitate crane operation.

West 44th Street between 6th Avenue and 5th Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 7pm to facilitate crane operation.

East 87th Street between 5thAvenue and Madison Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 4pm to facilitate crane operation.

West 97th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway: This street will be closed Sunday from 7am to 7pm to facilitate crane operation.

East 105th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 6am to 8pm to facilitate crane operation.

East 119th Street between 3rd Avenue and Lexington Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 6am to 9pm to facilitate crane assembly operation.

West 121st Street between St. Nicholas Avenue and 7th Avenue: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 4pm to facilitate crane operation.

Thompson Street between West 3rd Street and Washington Square South: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 6pm to facilitate crane operation.

Wooster Street between Grand Street and Broome Street: This street will be closed Saturday and/or Sunday from 8am to 6pm to facilitate crane operation.

Ann Street between Nassau Street and Park Row: This street will be closed Saturday from 8am to 6pm and Sunday from 9am to 6pm to facilitate NYCDDC roadway work.

Intersection of Ann Street and Nassau Street: This street will be closed Saturday from 8am to 6pm and Sunday from 9am to 6pm to facilitate NYCDDC roadway work.

Side note- Ann Street was not closed today, so it may also not be closed tomorrow, however the chances that we'll need such a street east of Broadway/Park Row is not likely.

Trinity Place between Edgar Street and Rector Street: This street will be closed Sunday from 7am to 1pm to facilitate crane operation.

• VERY IMPORTANT! -> major streets closed=

----

Formation: Columbus Avenue between 62nd Street and 65th Street
Route: 65th Street from Columbus Avenue to Lexington Avenue; Lexington Avenue to 23rd Street; 23rd Street to Madison Avenue
End: Madison Square Park
The above streets will be closed Sunday from 9am to 3pm for the March of Dimes as permitted by the Mayor's Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO).
----

And also here! ->

East Side of Broadway between West 96th Street and West 110th Street: The east side street will be closed Sunday from 11am to 6pm for the Veritas Inc/Duke Ellington Neighborhood Association./24th Precinct Community Council Fair as permitted by the Mayor's Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO).
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If you're in The Bronx, this is noteworthy:

Hutchinson River Parkway northbound between Bruckner Expressway Interchange and New England Thruway: The northbound roadway will be closed Sunday from 6:15am to 11am for the Bronx Biathlon Event.

This is most likely a mistake, as it probably was on Saturday and not Sunday, but you can't be too careful! drive around here to scout it out and see if it's closed on Sunday->

Third Avenue between East 23rd Street and East 34th Street: This street will be closed Sunday from 11am to 6pm for the Third Avenue Merchants Spring Expo as permitted by the Mayors Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO).
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From Hack To Hack: A Request

Please (begging you) do not hang air fresheners up in the taxicab. The stench of chemicals that pervade one's entire shift aren't worth its supposed rewards. These dangling little trees might cause cancer or infertility. We must figure out other ways to keep our taxis from smelling bad. If you insist on hanging one of these from your rear view mirror, at least take it with you at the end of your shift. For a driver that is sensitive to unnatural scents, finding one of these pervading the interior atmosphere upon commencing a shift is almost worse than hearing rattling in the suspension, or discovering hesitation in the transmission. And no, they do not have the fragrance of trees.

Wishful Yearning: Citizens' Band!

OH HOW I WISH THERE WERE STILL CB RADIOS IN OUR TAXICABS.
We are the only city that is strictly street hail and no dispatch.
My main source of desire for this feature of the past is because....

IF WE WERE A TIGHTLY KNIT NETWORK OF HACKS, CONNECTED ALWAYS BY CB RADIO....
we'd be able to keep each other out of traffic jams, street closures, slow-moving airport holding lots, dangerous situations, etc..

We'd be able to summon each other toward stretches of plentiful street hails.
We'd be able to provide each other with directions and answers to passengers' questions. Those of us in the immediate vicinity would be able to come to each others' rescue in the event of an assault or robbery, or to assist in the event of a flat tire or dead battery.

Around the time everyone switches from one shift (driver) to another, we could relay, negotiate, and match up fare destinations with garage locations.

But this thought is quite a long shot, considering we can't even touch a cell anymore. However, the difference is that these transactions would be brief, concise, and very utilitarian. A far cry from the constant jibba jabba of truckers on the highway, or of the way cabbies have been known to utilize their cell. There could be different stations for different neighborhoods, languages, and purposes. The possibilities are endless.

There is in fact still a small handful of owner-operators in NYC that equip their taxicabs with a CB radio. They mostly just communicate with each other, when in proximity, especially when deciding whether to wait at an airport taxi pound or not. These old-school hacks are all 30+ year veterans of the yellow force.

Flea to Shining Flea

It's becoming that time of the year when people like to frequent flea markets, and even go flea market-hopping all around town on the weekends. Are you familiar with all the different ones throughout the boroughs? This past weekend I picked up a fare on Bedford in Williamsburg (a vintage-laden district). They were visiting from Ohio and their requested destination was simply "the Fort Greene Flea Market." I imagine most cabdrivers would not be able to take off without directions. I knew it's on Lafayette, nearby Washington Avenue. Therefore, I first took two immediate lefts to get on Wythe, and followed that unto Kent and then Park, under the BQE. A left on Vanderbilt. Four blocks through beautiful brownstone canyons. Voila! There it is on the right.

And here are a few other prominent flea markets in NYC.....
Williamsburg
Hell's Kitchen
TIME OUT NY BEST FLEAS
NYC FLEA MARKET LISTING
NEW YORK FLEA MARKETS
GREEN FLEA MARKETS

no turning regulations- updates with ticket traps

Gil called me the other day incase I was working to let me know of the police on 5th avenue just south of 42nd street. I'm about to get ready for a Saturday shift, but while I have a few minutes, I might as well input a few places such as this corner where police may be waiting for cars who dis-obey the no turning rules.

-No turns from 42nd Street to 5th Avenue

-No right turns on 42nd Street west bound onto 8th Avenue

-No turns from 34th Street to 7th Avenue

-No turns from Grand Street to Bowery

Some of these intersections have more rules than just the above mentioned, and some of these intersections have the restrictions in effect only during day hours, while others are restricted at all times.

I can tell you this though- these rules are in effect everyday of the week including Sunday, and practically everyday at every hour that the rules are in effect there is a police car waiting to give you a ticket.

The Bowery south of Grand Street is particularly tricky as they use one unmarked car that sits at the bus stop. This is just a sample of no turning spots where you may get ticketed. Patrolling cars may give you a ticket for a whole bunch of intersections where you can't make a left from Delancey Street near the bridge, or during weekdays in midtown, there may be a police van parked at a corner waiting to give tickets to cars that turn from crosstown streets in the middle of the day on certain streets with such restrictions.

To avoid 34th street and 42nd street turning regulations, I avoid driving empty on 34th street and 42nd street after 7 am , so I don't have to deal with picking up someone who needs a turn where a turn can't be made. If worse comes to worse, just tell them that it'd be better to take a cab from the other street that you can't turn on, and don't charge them for sitting in your cab. Plus Gil warned of a Port Authority cop by the bus terminal at 42nd watching for cars that don't stop at the red light in the middle of the block. I would still take 34th or 42nd if I have a ride that needs to go all the way across town, but otherwise the turns are few and far between.

Working at night, I assume has less of these ticket traps, but on the other hand there is no traffic, and police might watch more closely for going through reds and changing multiple lanes at once.

Another way to get easily stuck with a ticket is when you decide to wait somewhere double parked, out of nowhere a cop car comes from behind at night, they even might pull in front and block an entire line of taxis and give tickets. During the daytime a traffic cop could walk up to your car and zap your window registration with their ticket printer. I've seen cop cars give tickets for double parked waiting taxis at 7th Avenue and 17th Street in front of Cafeteria restaurant, at 7th Avenue and Vandam at the club over there, pulling in front of everyone. I almost got a ticket there for waiting at the hydrant on the north side of Vandam, the police thought about pulling in front of my car, waiting for me to go and then playing the gas pedal game with me until they figured they could pull in front of the whole taxi line and give them all tickets. And when I pulled out to go around the taxi line, they almost didn't let me go, their car was blocking two lanes, and I couldn't get past because of the bollards dividing seventh avenue for the holland tunnel, I told them nicely that I was waiting far from the taxi line and wasn't blocking traffic. the cop told me I can't park there, I told him I wasn't parked, so he told his partner to move the car and let me get by. Watch them, they come from no where, and they look for cabs who pull over for longer then a minute or two, and they race over and get them from a few blocks away.

The TLC will also sometimes pull up to a hotel line in an undercover car, perhaps a white Toyota Prius, or a blue Ford Escape, and they'll watch the line for double parkers, and phone users. They also drive around and look too. And of course there are the tlc agents and police in the unmarked Crown Victoria who watch for sudden lane changes or phone use.

How A Cabbie Would Catch a Cab

When you need to hail a cab, please first lookout for on-duty taxis that are standing still, next to the sidewalk. These are often cabbies (such as myself) who are patiently waiting for their next fare in a manner that reduces gasoline waste and traffic congestion. As long as the off-duty lights are not lit , their temporary idle does not mean they are taking a break, nor are they less competent than the taxis that are cruising by.

Another important step to take when hailing a cab is to find the best spot for a cab to pull over. If possible, stand on a stretch of sidewalk that does not contain parked cars. Bus stops are OK, as long as you can make it quick. Fire hydrants, no standing, and no parking zones are great spots. No stopping zones are not. If you feel compelled to step into a lane of traffic in order to hail a cab, please step back unto the sidewalk as a cab pulls over, in order to allow/lure it to pull in as far from the flow of traffic as possible.

Never get into a cab that dangerously crosses multiple lanes to stop for you, unless they did so carefully (with consideration for other drivers). Never get into a cab that stops at such an angle that it takes up multiple lanes of traffic to let you in. This should serve as a red flag for poor service.

Only hail a cab from the street corner if you need it to make an immediate turn as it picks you up. Even then, you should make your intentions clear through hand gestures and allow/demand the driver to (complete that turn and) stop neatly (flush against a sidewalk) before you get in.

Follow these same procedures when requesting the driver to drop you off at your destination. Why do these things matter? Because not only are they safety precautions, but they alleviate congestion. If you don't like sitting in traffic during a cab ride, please don't help create it.

Between 330 and 5 PM every single day, there are special ways to catch a cab, and you must be in tune with them if you want to stand a chance. During this time we are switching from day to night shift. Most of us have our off-duty lights on and are headed back to our bases (garages). Most of them are located just over the 59th Street bridge in Queens, or just over the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn. As we make our way toward these garages, our doors are locked and your only hope of jumping in is if your destination is on our way there.

If you wish to travel uptown, you MUST plant yourself on First, Third, Madison, Sixth, Eighth, or Tenth Avenue. If you wish to go downtown, you must hail on Second, Lexington, Fifth, Seventh, or Ninth. Same thing goes for crosstown trips. If a cab slows down and rolls down the window, please audibly (loud) and concisely call out your destination. You can attempt this at a red light as well. If the cab continues on without you, do not take it personal.

We absolutely cannot be late to our garages, or else we pay a hefty fine and piss off the night driver (by ruining the lucrativeness of their shift). This is the only part of our shift that we are allowed to inquire about your destination, therefore it is not considered “refusal”, as many people mistakenly assume. They scream at us, threaten us, and throw kicks and punches at our cabs. The more people do this, the less we'll be inclined to bother slowing down and/or rolling down our windows at the end of our shift. Imagine if non of us negotiated with the public at this critical (rush hour) time. Everyone would be shit out of luck for a cab. I've even offered to take folks for free, as long as it's on my way home. So why should angry mobs accuse me of refusing them service? Spoiled brats!

Lookout!

633 Eleventh Avenue between 46 and 47th is a new hotspot for fares! Be sure to pull over for at least a minute in front of this building, before giving up and continuing to burn uncompensated gas.

Ouch!

I left my cab (not the one shown) at the taxi stand on Water Street, between John and the South St. Seaport, while I did my income tax for free on Fulton St. around 13:00 this afternoon. I parked at the very back end of the stand, with my rear end right up against the sign that says "no standing". When I came out 45 minutes later there was no ticket on my windshield, but another cabdriver, who'd left his cab just inches inside the "no standing" zone, did receive a $115 ticket. He was Haitian and appeared not to understand the rules as perfectly as he needed to. He thought he was in a taxi stand. He owned no camera, so I took pictures on his behalf, so he could contest the fine. Please don't let this happen to you. Pay close attention to signs.

Anonymous Opinion on Restrooms

From my dayshift perspective, the top 4 cleanest and most accessible bathrooms:

1. Time Warner Mall (Columbus Circle), 2nd floor south of the main escalator bank (mall hours)
2. The NJ ferry Terminal at the West Side Highway and 39th. (ferry operation hours)
3. The Apple Store at Grand Army Plaza, down the hall to the left of the genius bar. (24 hours)
4. The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, up the stairs and past the lobby to the left of the columns. (most likely 24 hour access)

Bathroom Map: link to a google map where many people have come together to note where public bathrooms are.

FREE INCOME TAX PREP IN MANHATTAN

This info brought to you by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance

Union of NYC Taxi Drivers! Member of NYC Central Labor Council

250 Fifth Avenue, Suite 310 New York, New York 10001

Phone: 212-627-5248 Fax: 646-638-4446 E-mail: nytwa1@aol.com /www.nytwa.org

THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW LOCATIONS THAT HELP YOU FILE YOUR INCOME TAX FOR FREE. YOU HAVE UNTIL APRIL 15. HOW CLOSELY IS BIG BROTHER WATCHING US VIA GPS TRACKING? I GUESS ONLY TIME WILL TELL, SO BE CAREFUL WITH CLAIMING. IF YOU WANT TO FIND A PLACE CLOSER TO WHERE YOU LIVE (OUTER BOROUGHS) THEN GO TO THIS WEBSITE AND PUT IN YOUR ZIP CODE. IF YOU NEED ANYTHING ANSWERED BY PHONE TRY 1 888 227 7669. OTHERWISE HERE ARE SOME LOCATIONS IN MANHATTAN:

58th Street Library, 127 East 58th Street

Directions: 4,5 and 6 trains to Lexington Avenue-59^th Street Telephone:(212) 759-7358 Dates: February 2, 2010 - April 15, 2010 Site Hours: Tuesday: 1PM - 4PM; Saturday: NOON - 3:00PM Income Limits: No income restrictions; sponsored by AARP Assistance available: This site prepares current-year tax returns and does electronic filing of returns only.

Baruch College, 151 East 25th Street (between Lexington and Third), Library Building, 1st Floor

Directions: 6 train to 28th Street
Dates: February 4, 2010 - April 15, 2010; Closed on February 12
Site Hours: Tuesday - Thursday: 12PM - 8PM; Friday: 12PM – 7PM; Saturday: 10AM – 4PM
Languages: Spanish available on Saturdays
Income Limits: To qualify, clients must earn less than $75,000 regardless of filing status.

BEWARE OF BARUCH COLLEGE. I WENT THERE TODAY AND ONLY STUDENTS WERE VOLUNTEERING WHO WERE TRAINED ONLY FOR EZ FORMS ($10,000 income or less).

Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue (corner of Lexington Avenue)

Directions: 6 train to 68th Street
Telephone: (212) 772-4219
Dates: February 8, 2010 - April 14, 2010
Site Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 6PM-9PM; Saturday: 11AM-2PM
Languages: Monday: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Russian, Serbian, Tagalog; Tuesday: Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog; Thursday: Bengali, Chinese-Cantonese, Korean, Lithuanian, Russian, Tagalog; Saturday: Chinese-Cantonese, German, Korean, Tagalog
Income Limits: To qualify, clients with children must earn less than $50,000 and clients without children must earn less than $18,000.

Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 331 East 70th Street (by appointment)

Directions: 6 train to 68th Street
Telephone: (212) 744-5022 x1374
Dates: February 5, 2010 - April 15, 2010
Site Hours: Friday: 12:30PM - 3:30PM
Income Limits: No income restrictions; sponsored by AARP
Assistance available: This site prepares current-year tax returns and does electronic filing of returns only.

Stein Senior Center, 340 East 24th Street

Directions: 6 train to 23rd Street
Telephone: (212) 585-6292
Dates: February 4, 2010 - April 15, 2010
Site Hours: Thursday: 9:30AM – 3PM
Income Limits: No income restrictions; sponsored by AARP.
Assistance available: This site prepares current-year tax returns and does electronic filing of returns only.

THE PLACE I DID MY INCOME TAX AT WAS VERY HELPFUL AND EFFECTIVE. IT'S ANOTHER ONE OF THESE FREE AARP SITES, BUT IS NOT ON THE LIST ABOVE. IT'S AT 95 FULTON STREET IN THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT. IT'S INSIDE A SENIOR CENTER AND IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON THURSDAYS FROM 10:00 AM UNTIL 1:30 PM. NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY.

METER TIP: If your passenger does not want a receipt, hold the paper down as it prints out. This saves you (or the next driver) from having to replace a spent roll. It also reduces the amount of litter you must dispose of when you clean out your cab at the end of your shift. It cuts down on the cutting down of trees, as you will be saving paper.

Obviously, if your fare uses a credit card (over $25) you need to print out a copy for them to sign. Even more paper is wasted by the gap the meter creates between each receipt. At least hold it down after the information has printed. I do not know of any other cabbie who does this. Everyone just lets the roll empty out through the course of the shift. It saddens me that we do not appreciate the miracle of carbon dioxide being transformed back into oxygen.

RED LIGHT CAMERA SIGHTINGS: At the 108^th Street exit off the LIE in Queens, as you approach the intersection. Eight Avenue approaching 57^th Street, just before Columbus Circle.

WEDNESDAY (4/7) 1:00 PM AT CITY HALL CHAMBERS. PLEASE PARK YOUR CAB AND ATTEND THE NEW TLC CHAIRMAN'S FIRST PUBLIC FORUM, IN WHICH HE WILL ADDRESS THE UNFAIR CRIMINALIZATION OF CABBIES. WE MUST SHOW THIS CITY THAT WE CARE ABOUT OUR REPUTATION!

CRIME RATE IS GOING UP IN NYC: Be very careful nowadays. I hear of subway muggings almost daily. People dozing off on the train and all of sudden someone punches them in the face and takes off with loot. The teenage boy in Prospect Park who was stabbed to death by a half dozen young men, for no apparent reason!

Barely reported in the media was last week's assault on a yellow cabdriver. He had two women passengers and one of them urinated on the floorboard. When he stopped and walked over to the back, they slit his throat with a knife. Sixteen stitches later he survived, thankfully. Don't confront your fare. Hide your cash. Be ready for anything. If Bloomberg or Daus drove a cab, you best bet they'd carry a crowbar!