Does It Hold Water?

Have you driven past Madison Square Garden lately and noticed the treehouses? I personally feel that even though the artist didn't mean to be cynically sarcastic, it's still mighty audacious of the city to allow these installations while denying homeless people the right to live in them. That's just me. This might be a good conversational piece to have with your passengers, as you taxi them across E.26th, eh? Don't always be so glued to your telephones. It has really created us a bad reputation, especially amongst tourists, who wish they could have a friendly chat with their cabbie. My tips grow exponentially when I choose to engage in even the smallest dialogue. I know, sometimes it takes a huge effort to break the ice, but a comfort zone is worth snapping. And the first thing they always ask once I've established an atmosphere of openness is "who the hell do they talk to all day and night?" Perhaps some of you fellow cabdrivers can answer that. And about the art....
https://www.madisonsquarepark.org/programs/madsqart.aspx
http://madsqhuts.wordpress.com/

REMINDER: Central Park Drive is HOV 2+ from 72nd to 7 Ave (8-10am/ Mon-Fri)

POLICE TRAPS (NYPD LOVES YOU)

DOWNTOWN:
On Hudson, just as you cross Canal, if you're traveling on the two rightmost lanes and you continue straight instead of entering the Holland Tunnel (during afternoon rush), there are often cops standing there to pull you over.

Off Bleecker, if you turn unto 7 Av too widely there is often a lucky cop ready to have you for breakfast. Always turn unto the closest lane at that West Village location.

We all know about the FDR North speed trap. Don't go over 40 mph as you approach the Brooklyn Bridge.

QUEENS:
Heading out to Rockaway Beach on Cross Bay Blvd., an unmarked cop car hides in the median as you enter the residential zone of Broad Channel. Speed limit is reduced from 50 to 30 mph.

The No Left from Astoria Blvd. unto Crescent St. (7 am-? ) is enforced by one of those interceptor golf carts, as soon as you make the turn.

ON THE RFK:
A Port Authority cop parks on the shoulder of the Queens bound Tri Boro Bridge. He stands right where the lanes begin their decent into Astoria, pointing his radar gun at motorists. The limit there is 40 MPH if I'm not mistaken.

MIDTOWN:
EB 42 if you make a wide right turn unto 2 Av, they often stop 1/2 dozen cars at a time.

EB 34 at 7 Av on Sunday mornings, as soon as it's 8 am, they set up a trap for those who make that right turn. Victims include mostly vacant yellow cabs innocently attempting to see if Madison Square Garden has any fares because the streets are empty. Now this rule is to alleviate congestion caused by heavy pedestrian traffic on the crosswalk, which is non existent at this hour. So WTF? Cabdrivers aren't the ones with money growing on trees in our backyards, if we even have backyards, and money certainly isn't coming out of our ass. Go pick on someone else for your quotas.

P.S.: Don't forget that many yellow cabs are used as undercover police cars. You can point them out because there are usually two big, buff, serious men in the front and no passengers. Their license place often has a different, longer sequence than other taxis.

Click on these links for more help with this:
http://www.speedtrap.org/
http://www.speedtrap.org/speed-traps/show/New%20York/New%20York

P.P.S..: I was once sitting vacant at a red light on EB 34 at 7 Av when two cops on foot approached a yellow cab on either front side window because a Penn Station security guard had already asked the cabdriver to leave the No Standing zone (in front of L.I.R.R.). Before the light could turn green the hack sped off and one of the cops jumped into my cab all of a sudden. "Follow that taxi!" It was like out of the movies. He had me run the red at Herald Square and turn the corner at the Empire State. When we caught up to him, he was trying to hide amongst a line of other sitting cabs. Cop jumped out and drew his gun at the sky in anticipation of anything. I got no reward for my efforts and decided to scram when I saw his weapon. Does that make me a traitor to our quasi brothersisterhood of yellow people?

perceived obsolescence

The taxi school instructors recommend you purchase a $17 Geographia 5 Borough street atlas, but I would go with one of those folding maps that only cost $5. That way you get a better feel for the city as one whole interconnected thing, while still being able to zoom into a specific street.
And the other suggested taxi driver's guides are expensive and unnecessary as well. Just jot down info you think you might need off of Google. Or here. Why am I being such an anti-consumerist? Well....

futurological nomadism

When you're coming down Seventh Avenue and you need to head east on Houston, the best route I've found is to go past Houston (which on that block is a one way west) and turn left on King Street. You'll usually catch a green signal upon reaching Sixth Avenue. Turn left again and get in the far right lane. That light turns green within seconds for your right turn unto Houston. This is a great way to avoid the traffic that always builds up on Bleecker Street. You could also turn down 4th Street at Sheridan Square and then make a right on Thompson to get to Houston, but it often takes longer.

It is important to stay tuned to the radio traffic reports throughout your shift for several reasons. They always mention transit delays, which you ought to jot down and make your way towards. For example, if the 7 train is suspended between Hunters Point and 61st, and you just dropped off at the airport, you're bound to catch a fare on either end of that problem, regardless of there being a shuttle bus. Just be creative. Scoop them up.

I was sitting at a red light facing west on W41 at 11 Avenue. When it turned green I cautiously proceeded forward to make a left turn. I had just picked up two ladies at the Port Authority and was headed downtown. A textile merchant in a black Ford Explorer ignored his red light and drove right into the intersection at about 10 MPH. I'm guessing he was preoccupied with a cell phone but it all happened too fast to know for sure. I stopped and started honking when it seemed imminent that he'd ram right into my side. He noticed me at the last split second and screeched on his brakes, but it was too late. The impact occurred just above my front right tire. A traffic director walked over to see if everyone was alright, which we were. This guy spoke Hebrew, like me, but with a thick Persian accent. He asked if I could put him in contact with my garage instead of calling the cops. They gave him a $400 damage estimate over the phone. But when I got back to the garage they raised it to $800. Now this negotiation is between them. I had no fault. Although I did lose the remainder of my shift, which is the part that is mine to keep. I worked almost 10 hours that day and went home with under 30 dollars. Unbelievable. No one reimburses the cabbie. Ever. If only I could have avoided that collision somehow. A knee jerk reverse action would have landed me into the car behind me. A forward thrust would have made the impact occur near or on my passenger. I was hopeless.

airport fares galore

In these days the college kids wrap up their semester and take taxicabs to the airports. It would be wise to cruise by all the local dormitories at all hours of the day/night, unless you aren't interested in taking people to the airports. Here's a list of the NYU student housing locations:
1 E 2 at Bowery
40 E 7 between 2/3 AV
55 E 10 between Univ/Broadway
5-11 University Pl/ Washington Mews
47 W 13 between 5/6 AV
334 E 26 between 1/2 AV
35 Fifth Avenue at 10th
33 Third Avenue at 9th
75 Third Avenue at 12th
316 Third Avenue at 23rd
129 Third Avenue at 14th
110 E 14 at 4 AV
140 E 14 at Irving Pl
Stuyvesant Town
25 Union SQ. West/ 16th
33 Wash SQ. West/ Washington Pl
79 Wash SQ. East/ 4th
Bleecker between La Guardia/Mercer
80 Lafayette at Franklin
400 Broome at Centre
200 Water at Fulton
636 Greenwich St./ Morton
BK: 67 Livingston/ Court

NEW SCHOOL DORMS:
135 E 12 between 4/3 AV
118 W 13 between 6/7 AV
300 W 20 at 8 AV
84 William St/ Maiden
31 Union SQ. West/17th
5 W 8/ before 5 AV


COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY:
Between Broadway and Amsterdam
along 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, and 116th

RED LIGHT CAMERAS

Check out this list online. Whatever is not on there, I try to list here....
BROOKLYN
Meeker past Morgan under BQE
W/B Atlantic Ave past 5 Av (by the mall)

MANHATTAN
1 Av across 63rd (although i never seen it flash)

9 Av across 26th NEW ONE INSTALLED
W/B Houston across 6 Av
W/B Canal across 6 Av

QUEENS
W/B Queens Blvd past Broadway (near Queens Center Mall)
w/b Q Blvd. past Roosevelt Av (Sunnyside)

Cayenne Pepper

There's quite often a speed trap on the FDR North, just before you go under the Brooklyn Bridge. If you enter where South Street ends or off the 9A underpass (tunnel), do not go a single MPH over 40. Everyone floors it here because it's the very beginning of the highway. A cop stands in the shoulder just over the hill. Only other radar gun trap I've seen in NYC is SB on Cross Bay Blvd. as you enter the residential zone of Broad Channel the limit plummets to 30 MPH and an unmarked hides in the median. On the opposite side of Queens, when WB on Astoria Blvd do not make a left on Crescent St. from 7 to 10 am. One of those little golf cart-like interceptors is busy around the corner. And in Manhattan, I'm pretty sure what I witnessed had to do with that far left lane on Broadway as you're about to cross 14th. It says on a sign and on the ground that you MUST turn left. Taxis break this rule 50 times a minute. Well, I saw folks getting pulled over systematically on that southeast corner one day last week. Must've been that rule being enforced.

NOTE TO CABBIES:
Beware of the $115 for box blocking having recently become a non moving violation. The meter maids on E37th St. are busy handing these out to everyone stuck crosstown inside the intersection as you crawl through Park Avenue. My passenger's comment: 'That is such a cheap shot'. I've seen this activity in one other spot: 3 Avenue crossing E56th Street. The two rightmost lanes get jammed with those headed to the Queensboro. The meter maids have a field day here.

PROHIBITED RIGHT TURNS

WB 42 unto Madison (7-19:00) except U
WB 42 unto 8 Av (7-19:00) DAILY

Madison Avenue: all right turns restricted from 42 to 59 (14-19:00) weekdays for bus lanes (both rightmost lanes).

PERHAPS JUST FOR THE HOLIDAYS?
5 Av unto 53 thru 47 (10-22:00). That's 12 hours of no turning down 7 consecutive blocks.

PROHIBITED LEFT TURNS

BROOKLYN:
WB Kings Highway unto Remsen or Linden (use Church).

MANHATTAN:
NEW: Broadway unto 40 (never)
WB 42 unto LEX (M-F 7-19:00)
EB 42 unto Madison (never).

EB 14 unto 6 Av (except U)
23rd/Park Ave: from any direction (8-19:00) except U

WB 23 unto 7 Av (8-19:00) except U

WB 23 unto Fifth 8-19:00 (except U).
Church unto Canal (M-F 16-19:00)
SB York unto 79 (never)

SB W.End unto 72 (never)
WB 181 unto Broadway (never) in Washington Heights
EB 57 unto 6 Av (7-19:00 M-S)
2 Av unto 37 (7-10:00 M-F)
(Also straight thru 2 Av on 37^th (7-10:00 M-F)

NOT THE ONLY SLY FOXES IN TOWN

See taxis lined up on E42nd by the FDR? They are taking a leak at the park, but beware. The NYPD has been known to creep up on unsuspecting cabbies for parking violations. Same story along the right side of Lexington through Grand Central Station and into the upper 30s (Murray Hill). No pick ups or drop offs allowed. You must do your business along the left (east) side of the Avenue. I know cabdrivers who have been ticketed during sting operations for this offense.