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!