SEPTEMBERJULY 20102016 •• TAXITAXI INSIDERINSIDER •• PAGEPAGE 11
INSIDER VOL. 17, NO. 9 “The Voice of the NYC Transportation Industry.” SEPTEMBER 2016 Letters To The Editor Page 3 • EDITORIAL Insider News By David Pollack Page 6 • Driving Yellow Means Taxi Attorney By Michael Spevack Making Green! Page 7 Driving Yellow Means Making Green The Taxi & Limousine Commission will not • September is back to school time folks, so be granting any more vehicle extensions due to DRIVE EXTRA CAREFULLY! the current inventory levels of the NV- Puzzle Allow me to clarify some industry 200 (Taxi of Tomorrow) wheelchair Page 7 rumors: accessible vehicles (WAVs). Inventory • Taxi Insider is hearing that Yellow and shipment data shared by NISSAN taxi drivers are making more money includes 139, 2016 WAVs and 88 in the Commissioner’s Corner than Uber X drivers and are making process of converting from non acces- By Merra Joshi even more extra money with the extra sible NV-200s into WAVs. There are Page 15 .50 cents per fare paid on every single also 271, 2015 non-accessible NV-200s • fare if, you drive an accessible taxi. Drive available at New York dealers and in an accessible taxi now because the .50 NISSAN inventory. Quotabel Quotes may be going up! For structural reasons, the partition in Page 15 TLC assures there is plenty of money to pay the NISSAN NV-200 better known as the Taxi of • new owners of wheelchair accessible taxis $14,000, Tomorrow (TOT) CANNOT come out, even though and drivers $25,000 a week for .50 cents on every many drivers prefer a camera to a partition. The Enough Is Enough fare! (Continued on Page 4) By Nat Goldbetter Page 17 Daus Releases CUNY Report with Blueprint for • “Leveling the Playing Field” Between TNCs and Current Taxicabs/For-Hire Vehicles Revenge...Not So Sweet By Matthew W. Daus, Esq. By Larry Fisher It is my pleasure to an- sity Transportation Research Center (Region 2) at Page 23 nounce that I have recently The City College of NY, of the City University of • completed a comprehensive NY, which will be available on the UTRC website NYC Hotels report entitled: “Post-TNC at http://www.utrc2.org/. A condensed version Transportation Policy & Plan- will also be published as a sidebar in Volume 82, Page 26 ning: Who and What Should Issue 4 of the Journal of the American Planning • be Regulated & How to “Level Association, and will be available on the Ameri- NYC Economy the Playing Field” with Taxi- can Planning Association website at https://www. cabs and For-Hire Services?” planning.org/japa/. An edited version of this Page 27 & 38 (“Leveling the Playing Field white paper is also scheduled for re-publication • Article”), through the Univer- (Continued on Page 24) Insider Directory Page 29 TAXI DAVE’S • Book Signings Page 34 RADIO SHOW • WOR-710AM Broadway and Off Broadway Shows 8:00 – 9:00 PM Page 37 EVERY SUNDAY! PAGE 2 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016
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Your Medallion Headquarters ! LOMTO Generation Brokerage, Inc. TAXI and BLACK CAR INSURANCE SPECIALISTS ——And Medallion Transfer, Inc. Licensed TLC Broker #R0018 · Insuring the For Hire Industry - Taxi & Black Car · Providing You Service the Way It Should Be - FAST & COURTEOUS · Convenient Mid-Town Location - Hack Stand In Front of Office · Medallion Sales, Leasing, and Financing · Over 25 Years of Industry Experience
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Call Lee Komitor or Alex Chaoush 74-15 NORTHERN BLVD. QUEENS, NEW YORK 139-30 Queens Blvd., Briarwood, NY 11415 1-718-898-7800 (718) 658-9800 Fax (718) 476-8207 www.melrosecu.org SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 3 LETTERS JULY 2010 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 1 INSIDER Distracted Driving 3:45am, I picked up a passenger at the corner of 45th St. and 11th Avenue, outside of a club, and delivered Publisher & Dear Taxi Dave, him to Staten Island. With $73.42 on the meter, his It is no longer uncommon for people to go one card was declined. He then asked me to wait for him foot outside their lane on the highway. It makes it dif- Editor-in-Chief while he went into a 24 hr. laundromat to use the fi cult to be a patient driver. It is happening too often. ATM. He escaped out the back exit. I’m sure he’s David Pollack KOJAK used to call His brother fatso. In the 1970’s pulled this ruse before. a fatso was very unusual . Today it is common. We What is my issue? Years ago, I suggested to the have to be involved with these careless people. If we meter companies that they add a credit card approval hit the brakes to put a distance between oneself and system. I also suggested it directly to the TLC, and it the distracted driver we can quickly fi nd ourselves was in fact printed in the Taxi Insider years ago that it involved with another coming up from behind. But was under consideration. This is NOT a new concept. there are times when we can easily be patient. We need In my own experience, in the 1990’s, I was getting to understand we are being pressed to be impatient. credit card approval for clients when I was in club From Frank management. A high-roller client would come in, and Columnists (who loves ya baby) request a tab. I then, would get an approval number for an over-estimate of what I was sure he would spend. Marc Albert Hybrid And Wheelchair Once approved, he could then run a tab freely with Matthew Daus, Esq. no risk of losing money to the business. Accessible Vehicles Why is it that the meter companies didn’t add Tony Falese Dear Taxi Dave, this addition from the beginning? They certainly The TLC limits our choices to what cars we can knew about it! Credit card approval was added as a Larry Fisher buy. EHailers aren’t restricted .The TLC makes that protective measure so that businesses would continue decision because it rationalizes that for the public good to accept credit cards. Why are yellow cabs treated Nat Goldbetter , certain vehicles are better than others in service to differently? If I had run an approval check with the Ira Goldstein, Esq. the public. For example , hybrid cars and wheelchair card company on my passenger this morning, and it accessible vehicles. That may be a good decision for was declined, I could have saved myself the time and Abe Mittleman the public good but that’s not always a good business expense of a fruitless trip to Staten Island. Instead, I decision for taxis. By allowing EHailers to make their must shell out for gas, the MTA tax, the IMP tax, and Alan Plafker own car choices without restrictions is s clear business the tolls which added up to $16.62, my time and effort disadvantage for taxis. notwithstanding. How many other drivers have taken Michael Spevack, Esq. Michael Simon trips to the airport, or other longer distance trips only to discover the passenger’s credit card(s) was declined Where is The TLC ? and then they claimed to have no cash? What to do if Layout & Graphics Hi Taxi Dave; there’s no police around? Dragonfl y Graphics LLC There are over 2000 gypsy cabs with UBER and Another driver who is no longer in the busi- LYFT signs and private plates roaming the streets ness took a client to Greenwich, Connecticut for an making pickups. I don’t see any enforcement ..... agreed upon fare of $125.00. When they arrived, both Frustrated Driver, of his credit cards were declined, and he claimed to Taxi Insider Michael have no cash, and tried to exit the cab. The driver then locked the doors on the passenger and sought 14 Alexander Drive the police. When the police demanded the passenger What’s Going On? empty his pockets, he had more than enough cash to Washingtonville, NY 10992 Dear Taxi Dave, pay for the fare. It is extremely demoralizing when people with This is not the fi rst time I’ve had issues with Phone: (718) 706-TAXI(8294) bags by their feet wait for a black car while I sit by declined cards. My profi ts have been dwindling. And — Bed Bath And Beyond readily available. as of November, I won’t be able to make up for my Frank losses with extra time. Yellow cab drivers seem to be E-mail:[email protected] an easier target to penalize when the TLC or the DOT Disaster! want to get their names in the paper to convince the Copyright © 2016 by TAXI INSIDER. All public that they’re doing their jobs to the best of their Dear Taxi Dave, rights reserved. Neither this newspaper nor abilities. This may take some of the public’s heat off I just dropped off a family that stated that there any part therof may be reproduced, copied, of THEM, but as for me, it might just be time to check home was struck by lighting. I picked them up from or transmitted in any form, electronic or out opportunities with the competition. port Authority and were dropped off on the lower east mechanical including photocopying, mi- (Am withholding my name) side to see extended family. They stated that they were crofi lming, recording or by any information from Paramus New Jersey. retrieving system without the express written John Leon Here Another Hard Time permission of the publishers. The copyright Dear Taxi Dave, is extended to the design and text created Way2Ride Here is another example of the city causing hard for advertisements. This publication will times for Passengers and drivers: 23rd Street east to not be responsible for errors in advertise- Dear Taxi Dave, west was converted to a bus lane street on both sides. ment beyond the cost of the space occupied We need to continue to refi ne Way2Ride to al- Taxis and black cars are already getting tickets for pick- by the error. Bylined articles represent the low people to know the type of cab they are hailing. ing up and dropping off fares. And, from 6th Avenue sole opinion of the writer and are not neces- Someone with 4 big bags needs a larger cab. to 11th Avenue on both sides NO RIGHT TURN or sarily in accordance with the views of TAXI Frank NO LEFT TURN was created to give drivers tickets. INSIDER. My advice for drivers is to download the WAZE app. This Publication reserves the right to Credit Card It warns you about hidden cops... limit or refuse advertising it deems objec- Peace and love, tionable. Approval Codes Avi H TAXI INSIDER is published monthly at Dear Taxi Dave, a subscription rate of $48.00 per year. I am livid right now! This morning (Aug 14) at (Continued on Page 12) PAGE 4 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Driving Yellow You will need to submit the following: (Continued from Page 1) reason being that air conditioning controls are built into the partition and let us not forget that the partition was crash tested. The partition comes with the car and NISSAN has no plans to reengineer the partition at this time. If you drive a WAV and want to make more money and collect the 50 cents on EACH and EVERY fare, you will need to fill out an application. All the money you earn through the program will be deposited, at no cost to you, onto a TLC prepaid debit card. Simply follow the instructions at this TLC website link: http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/industry/taxi_improve- ment_fund_driver.shtml The TLC stated they are currently paying 900 drivers $50000 every two weeks in 50 cent fare payments! Smart drivers now drive accessible yellow taxis. If you are a medallion owner or a driver who purchases your own vehicle, I cannot begin to tell you how important it is to have accurate information on your tax returns. We all know that getting a loan using the NYC taxi me- dallion in the past was as easy as peas. Financing for vehicles in the current atmosphere is crucial and much different than ever before. Today there are requirements and procedures that are used to protect against an unqualified borrower and helps maintain medallion values. Besides a financial state- ment from your accountant, you will need to show two years of tax returns. Let’s face it, nobody likes paying taxes but you must show all income and expense in a true manner. Here are a few examples of what you should NOT do: If your credit card income is $10 for the year, never claim less and do not forget to add your cash income, If you drive a hybrid vehicle –do not claim gasoline expense of $100 a day for one 12-hour shift, never claim that you wash your taxi 16 times a day, do not show total income that is less than your rent or mortgage (DUH). Simply telling the truth will help to avoid an audit and help YOU to attain a much needed loan in the future. For anyone considering getting a license to drive a yellow taxi, all applications for a New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) Driver’s license must be submitted online. For those NEW drivers wanting a license to drive a yellow taxi, you must fill out an application first: Go to https://www1.nyc.gov/lars/?submit=TLC+Online+Application+Site • You will need your DMV license, valid email address and Social Secu- rity number to apply. • All application fees must be paid online. Do NOT mail application fees to the TLC. TLC will return any mailed in fees. • Application fees are non-refundable. STEP 2: Submit your required documents to the TLC within 90 days of submitting your online application. • By e-mail to [email protected]. This is the fastest way to submit your documents. • By fax: (646)-500-6923. Please keep your fax confirmation page. • By mail to: NYC TLC Licensing and Standards Division Attention: New Driver Application Requirements 31-00 47th Avenue, 3rd floor Long Island City, NY 11101 You may not submit required documents in person at the TLC. You must include your state driver’s license number on all documents You must complete: submitted to the TLC. TLC will notify you if additional documents are needed. Your application will be denied if you fail to submit your documents within 90 days of submitting your online application. STEP 3: Complete all requirements within 90 days of your online application. To complete all requirements for a TLC license you will need to: • Take a drug test • Have your fingerprints and photo taken • Complete the education requirements. Details on how to complete these requirements are listed below and will be emailed to you after you submit your online application: Medallion Driver Requirements (Yellow, Green and FHV applicants) Qualifications - The following will be confirmed during the back ground review.
(Continued on Page 14) SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 5
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2721 Nostrand Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11210 Visit us online for more information www.PlazaToyota.com PAGE 6 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Insider News DiNapoli To MTA: Industry Notice #16-15 Collect On Your Fines Improvement Surcharge Payment In an audit released Thursday morn- [New York City Transit’s] collections Process for Street Hail Livery Permit ing, New York State Comptroller Tom bureau was in the process of moving IT DiNapoli said the MTA bureau that operations over from an external vendor Owners and Medallion Owners and collects fi nes for infractions like fare to an in-house operation in order to im- Agents Has Changed evasion and smoking on the subway prove effi ciency and collection rates. As Starting on July 25, 2016, you will no longer receive a statement from your isn’t collecting enough cash. a result, the audit, because of its timing, TPEP/LPEP provider that lets you know the amount owed for the current quarter’s By the comptroller’s estimation, as does not provide an accurate representa- Improvement Surcharge. Instead, the TLC will post the Improvement Surcharge of December 31, 2015, the bureau had tion of our collection efforts.” amounts that are owed directly onto the TLC’s License Applications, Renewals accumulated “approximately 1.7 mil- “The math OSC uses is fuzzy,” he & Summonses system (LARS). This change will start with the second quarter of lion summonses with outstanding fi nes continued. “For example, the audit 2016 for trips that are done between April 1 – June 30, 2016. and fees totaling $383.2 million.” And includes the 15 percent of cases that To fi nd out the exact amount you owe, please visit LARS. You will continue between, January 1, 2013 and June 6, were dismissed (and shouldn’t have to make payments using the TLC’s On-line Transaction system (LARS), which 2015, the bureau collected only $17 been factored in as outstanding col- can be found on our web site at https://www1.nyc.gov/lars. million of the $30.4 million it was lections) and didn’t include accurate The timeline for payment of the second quarter of 2016 Improvement Sur- due in fi nes associated with more than numbers for fi nes that were reduced for charge is as follows: 320,000 summonses. various reasons. It also counted penal- • July 25th, 2016 – Owners and Agents will be able to view amounts owed Part of the problem, said DiNapoli, ties in the overall rate of collections. on LARS, and begin making payments. was that the the bureau didn’t try hard The facts are that total collections in • July 25th, 2016 – Challenge Period begins. Owners and Agents should direct enough. And part of the problem, he the two most recent years of complete all questions or challenges to: said, was that the NYPD didn’t always operation (2014 and 2015) compared [email protected] – for Taxicab Improvement Fund related issues collect accurate information. to the two prior years (2012 and 2013) [email protected] – for Street Hail Livery Improvement Fund The MTA, though, was unimpressed show an increase in collections of over related issues with DiNapoli’s work. 10 percent.” • August 5th, 2016 – Challenge Period ends. Amounts due are fi nalized. In a statement, MTA spokesman Read the audit here: http://bit. • August 15th, 2016 – Full payment is due to the TLC. Payments may only Kevin Ortiz said DiNapoli’s report “is ly/2b8R1u3
The Taxi Dave Show
and Read Taxi Insider Public transportation: to Wall Street to Bowling Green to Whitehall Street to Broad Street on-line @ If you speak limited English and need assistance understanding what NYCTAXINEWS.COM was discussed at the meeting, please email: [email protected]. SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 7 The Taxi Attorney September Taxi Driver Puzzle Hello everybody, I hope that you NYC Metro area! So, please tune in are working hard and making good to listen. Do you know the stories behind each word? money. This month I Fifth, remember to You would if you listened to Taxi Dave’s Radio want to talk about eight bring me your DMV Show, Sunday’s at 8:00 PM on WOR710. Brought topics. and TLC tickets. It is First, in my experi- important to fight all to you by Melrose Credit Union. You will also ence the TLC is start- your DMV (issued by understand the puzzle better if you read our ing to really handout NYPD) and TLC tickets. articles. whopping summonses Be careful. Don’t skimp to drivers (and owners) on the lawyer only to T N E C 0 5 N R A E A I D who aren’t yellows and lose your license later. S R S N I Y A T P S M T R pick up street hails. That Please fight every yel- is indeed good news for low or pink ticket you O A T R S E S I D R F F A the yellow business, be- receive from NYPD and N F P U C S O T I E I C U cause yellows have the every TLC ticket you exclusive right to pick receive. If you are uncer- E T E T H A T I S V A L G up hails in the streets in Manhattan tain whether to use an attorney for a V R P E O T E O N I S S A below 96th Street and 110th Street, particular ticket, please come see me and at the airports. It is also good and I will tell you, no charge, if the E N O R O F T S D R 3 3 L news for green cabs. I do defend ticket has points and you do or do not such drivers and owners because need an attorney or representative for T A X E L S R $ 7 0 C N I everyone is entitled to due process in a particular summons. R L G N S R E R F 0 S O L the US and before TLC, but it is very Sixth, please take the defensive dangerous now to for a driver who driver course every 18 months. Do A I S H O A E T A N C I N receives such a summons, because on not wait three years to take the DDC F L E T P E N N S T A T U a third offense TLC may soon seize a class that takes points off of your vehicle under civil forfeiture law and NYS driver’s license. Please take F L I S T Y I C O O T E N impose a $10,000 fine and revocation the course every 18 months so if I C M E T 0 E O H A L P N of TLC and DMV license. This is a TLC sends you a letter to suspend very severe penalty, as it should be. or revoke your Hack or TLC license G I M A R 2 N D C P S O E Just be aware that TLC is starting to you will have taken the class before H T E R O F D E S O L C L do its part to protect the rights of the you get such TLC letter. Now TLC is yellow cab businessmen and women. allowing you to take a course which Find the following words/accronyms in the puzzle above Good to know, and about time! takes 3 points off your DMV record • SCHOOLS OPEN • RATES • Second, I am working with a according to TLC calculations after prestigious and reasonably priced you get a letter from TLC saying • PARTITIONS TO STAY • DEALS • bankruptcy firm in case you need you have a suspension or revocation to file for Chapter 7, 13 or 11 of the coming to you. Also, if you get found • LAGUARDIA TRAFFIC • TNC • United States Bankruptcy Code. I guilty of a DMV summons it may be • PENN STATION 33RD STREET • understand the Industry and am glad best to take a DDC course AFTER to try to save your assets or liquidate the guilty finding at TVB or in other • 20 YEARS FOR ONE TRAFFIC LIGHT • your assets as the case may be if you NYS traffic court. Moreover, there is • LINCOLN TUNNEL CLOSED FOR EMMIES • need that type of service. A basic a persistent violator course available Chapter 13 which will generally allow to reduce TLC points which are now • DRIVERS EARN 50 CENTS ON EVERY FARE • you to keep your home and car etc. being combined with DMV points and is around $3500 for lawyer’s fees. can result in your losing your TLC • TAX RETURNS • ENGLISH TEST • Chapter 11s are more and Chapter 7, license very quickly if you speed or • ESTATES • TPEP • PLATE • when you liquidate your assets, are talk on your cell phone while driv- less. If you need this type of service ing. Basically, any moving violation • $700 FARE • INCOME • or if you are considering it, I am glad now puts you in jeopardy. Call me at to talk to you about it and you may 212.754.1011 if you want to discuss to discuss it. Sometimes it makes Thank you for reading this article. contact me at my office during busi- your DMV or TLC tickets. sense to use a lawyer to help you fight Call me at 212.754.1011 for all your ness hours at 212.754.1011 or 866. Also, please note that I will do an a pink summons, which is a criminal legal needs. Until next month, be LAW.MIKE or 866.529.6453. excellent job advocating for you at a summons with ramifications beyond well. Third, if you are arrested and you fair and reasonable price, and I have DMV points, and sometimes you can Mr. Spevack thanks you for read- possess a TLC license, it is impera- been doing this business for 20 years simply pay such a summons without ing this article which is for enter- tive that you hire the best criminal now and really know what I am do- any negative consequences. My fee tainment purposes only and does attorney that you can afford. This is ing. Please call me at 212.754.1011 is reasonable to go to court for you not constitute legal advice. For legal so because TLC will hold your license or 866.LAW.MIKE to discuss your for pink summonses, and you most advice, contact Mr. Spevack.http:// until the criminal case is finished and DMV or TLC problem. often do not need to go to court and www.trafficticketnyc.com . the TLC will take it permanently from Seventh, the weather is getting I can obtain zero points for you. But, See his advertisement on page 30 you if the criminal matters is NOT cooler, hopefully, and the busy please call me to discuss this with of this issue. resolved to the TLC’s satisfaction. I season/Christmas season is rapidly me and don’t wait for the day before This article does not reflect the work with a very high quality criminal approaching with the end of sum- court to call me. opinion of the publisher. attorney who can speed up criminal mer. That means more New Yorkers matters and obtains excellent results, are in the City looking for cab rides, Would You Like To Receive...... so please call me at 212.754.1011 if hopefully. Be careful of blocking you get arrested. the box tickets and failure to yield to • Weekly Traffi c Advisories Fourth, please listen to the Taxi pedestrian tickets which the NYPD is Dave radio show on 710 am WOR, cracking down on. Be sure to watch • Important Messages from The TLC on Sunday evenings between 8pm the street signs as they are rapidly • Important Industry Notices and 9pm. David Pollack is the host. changing and being enforced vigor- He is smart, entertaining, informative ously in Manhattan. If you need me, E-mail: [email protected] and best of all, knows the truth about please call me at 212.754.1011 to what is happening in your Industry. discuss your situation. And we will place you on our Moreover, he has the highest rated Eighth, if you receive a pink sum- show on radio in his time slot in the mons, please call me at 212.754.1011 Industy E-Mail List. PAGE 8 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016
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MANHATTAN POLICE PRECINCTS Precinct Address Direct line 1 Precinct 16 Ericsson Place 1-212-334-0611 Police Precincts 5 Precinct 19 Elizabeth Street 1-212-334-0711 6 Precinct 233 West 10 Street 1-212-741-4811 In New York City 7 Precinct 19 1/2 Pitt Street 1-212-477-7311 Taxi Insider Info 9 Precinct 130321 AvenueEast 5th C Street 1-212-477-7811 10 Precinct 230 West 20th Street 1-212-741-8211 71 Precinct 421 Empire Boulevard 1-718-735-0511 13 Precinct 230 East 21st Street 1-212-477-7411 72 Precinct 830 4th Avenue 1-718-965-6311 Midtown South Precinct 73 Precinct 1470 East New York Avenue 1-718-495-5411 MSP 357 West 35th Street 1-212-239-9811 75 Precinct 1000 Sutter Avenue 1-718-827-3511 17 Precinct 167 East 51st Street 1-212-826-3211 76 Precinct 191 Union Street 1-718-834-3211 Midtown North Precinct 77 Precinct 127 Utica Avenue 1-718-735-0611 MNP 306 West 54th Street 1-212-767-8400 78 Precinct 65 6th Avenue 1-718-636-6411 19 Precinct 153 East 67th Street 1-212-452-0600 79 Precinct 263 Tompkins Avenue 1-718-636-6611 20 Precinct 120 West 82nd Street 1-212-580-6411 81 Precinct 30 Ralph Avenue 1-718-574-0411 Central Park Precinct 83 Precinct 480 Knickerbocker Avenue 1-718-574-1605 86th St & Transverse Road 1-212-570-4820 84 Precinct 301 Gold Street 1-718-875-6811 23 Precinct 162 East 102nd Street 1-212-860-6411 88 Precinct 298 Classon Avenue 1-718-636-6511 24 Precinct 151 West 100th Street 1-212-678-1811 90 Precinct 211 Union Avenue 1-718-963-5311 25 Precinct 120 East 119th Street 1-212-860-6511 94 Precinct 100 Meserole Avenue 1-718-383-3879 26 Precinct 520 West 126th Street 1-212-678-1311 28 Precinct 2271-89 8th Avenue 1-212-678-1611 QUEENS POLICE PRECINCTS 30 Precinct 451 West 151st Street 1-212-690-8811 Precinct Address Direct line 32 Precinct 250 West 135th Street 1-212-690-6311 100 Precinct 92-24 Rockaway Beach Blvd. 1-718-318-4200 33 Precinct 2207 Amsterdam Avenue 1-212-927-3200 101 Precinct 16-12 Mott Avenue 1-718-868-3400 34 Precinct 4295 Broadway 1-212-927-9711 102 Precinct 87-34 118th Street 1-718-805-3200 BRONX POLICE PRECINCTS 103 Precinct 168-02 P.O. Edwaard Byrne Ave. 1-718-657-8181 104 Precinct 64-02 Catalpa Avenue 1-718-386-3004 Precinct Address Direct line 105 Precinct 92-08 222nd Street 1-718-776-9090 40 Precinct 257 Alexander Avenue 1-718-402-2270 106 Precinct 103-53 101st Street 1-718-845-2211 41 Precinct 1035 Longwood Avenue 1-718-542-4771 107 Precinct 71-01 Parsons Boulevard 1-718-969-5100 42 Precinct 830 Washington Avenue 1-718-402-3887 108 Precinct 5-47 50th Avenue 1-718-784-5411 43 Precinct 900 Fteley Avenue 1-718-542-0888 109 Precinct 37-05 Union Street 1-718-321-2250 44 Precinct 2 East 289th Street 1-718-590-5511 110 Precinct 94-41 43rd Avenue 1-718-476-9311 45 Precinct 2877 Barkley Avenue 1-718-822-5411 111 Precinct 45-06 215th Street 1-718-279-5200 46 Precinct 2120 Ryer Avenue 1-718-220-5211 112 Precinct 68-40 Austin Street 1-718-520-9311 47 Precinct 4111 Laconia Avenue 1-718-920-1211 113 Precinct 167-02 Baisley Boulevard 1-718-712-7733 48 Precinct 450 Cross Bronx Expressway 1-718-299-3900 114 Precinct 34-16 Astoria Boulevard 1-718-626-9311 49 Precinct 2121 Eastchester Road 1-718-918-2000 115 Precinct 92-15 Northern Boulevard 1-718-533-2002 50 Precinct 3450 Kingsbridge Avenue 1-718-543-5700 52 Precinct 3016 Webster Avenue 1-718-220-5811 STATEN ISLAND POLICE PRECINCTS BROOKLYN POLICE PRECINCTS Precinct Address Direct line Precinct Address Direct line 120 Precinct 78 Richmond Terrace 1-718-876-8500 60 Precinct 2951 West 8th Street 1-718-946-3311 122 Precinct 2320 Hylan Boulevard 1-718-667-2211 61 Precinct 2575 Coney Island Avenue 1-718-627-6611 123 Precinct 116 Main Street 1-718-948-9311 62 Precinct 1925 Bath Avenue 1-718-236-2611 63 Precinct 1844 Brooklyn Avenue 1-718-258-4411 66 Precinct 5822 16th Avenue 1-718-851-5611 Questions? Comments? 67 Precinct 2820 Snyder Avenue 1-718-287-3211 E-Mail Taxi Insider at 68 Precinct 333 65th Street 1-718-439-4211 69 Precinct 9720 Foster Avenue 1-718-257-6211 [email protected] 70 Precinct 154 Lawrence Avenue 1-718-851-5511 SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 9 PAGE 10 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 yp Hereford Insurance Company Established 1982 • Licensed by the New York State Insurance Department 36-01 43rd Avenue, LIC, NY 11101 • Tel: 718-361-9191 • Fax: 718-361-6243 DRIVER SAFETY • Please do not argue with any passengers over a fare DEFENSIVE DRIVING • Please do not leave your vehicles if a passenger leaves the vehicle and at- tempts to fl ee without paying a fare • Please do not roll your driver side window down to collect a fare and always COURSE SCHEDULE attempt to collect fares while passengers are in your vehicle Classes will be offered the following Saturdays: • Please when applicable negotiate your fare prices prior to beginning your trip so there is no confl ict at the conclusion of the trip November 19, 2016 • If you operate a vehicle with a partition consider the hours you are working to determine if the partition will best serve you when CLOSED February 25, 2017 There has been an increase of crime and violent attacks on drivers in recent months. Please always place your SAFETY as your primary goal for your work May 20, 2017 shift. Your families and peers appreciate the valuable contributions and sacrifi ces you make every day for them and New York City. August 26 2017 PLEASE BE SAFE All Hereford insured will receive the course at no cost: Classes will be held in the third floor event room at: Extreme Heat Alert: HEREFORD INSURANCE COMPANY • Drink plenty of water(at least 2 liters a day during a heat wave. 36-01 43RD AVENUE, LIC, NEW YORK 11101 • Check your vehicle fluids & belts prior to your shift. Our classes are recognized by: • Keep your vehicle cool for passengers. • Taxi and Limousine Commission for required license renewals. • Remember not all drivers have air conditioning and the extreme heat • Department of Motor Vehicles for the Point Reduction. can easily cause Road Rage. • Insurance carriers for rate reduction. • Remember many pedestrians may be light headed or dehydrated and ALL CLASSES BEGIN AT 9:00A.M., AND END AT 3:00P.M. they may act in an unsafe manner. Reservations Are Necessary. • Help Senior Citizens in and out of your vehicles and ask them if they All drivers must provide proof of Insurance. are OK or need any assistance. • Remember children may be playing in the street at open fire hydrants For additional information please contact: • Do not loose your temper if your vehicle is sprayed with water from BERTRAM MERLING - Loss Control Coordinator an open fire hydrant. 718-361-9191 EXT. 7235 • Be patient with Con Edison workers disrupting traffic as they are pro- [email protected] SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 11
Diamonds In The Rough!
Taxi Dave with TLC’s Allan Fromberg, the Deputy Commissioner for Public Affairs was recently honored for his 20 years of service with the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission. Allan has worked through 5 TLC chairs! Allan has also lasted longer than 3 mayors! Allan is proud to say that after 20 years, he still loves his job as much as he Taxi Dave with Deputy Commissioner of Licensing Gary Weiss has been with the TLC did on day one. Allan loves the people he has become friends with over the years and for 10 years. Gary is a one of best public servants in city administration. Gary always has never been more comfortable, than when he is engaged with taxi and FHV drivers, listens, is reasonable and works with people to make sure drivers or owners have what owners and advocates. Congrats my friend! Taxi Dave wishes you 20 MORE years! they need to keep working. Gary is another shining example of public service. Extreme Heat • Make a mental note of all the Schools, playgrounds, and other locations frequented by children; you may be passing in your usual work shift. (Continued from Page 10) • Watch out for children walking and looking at their hand held devices viding an essential and often. Life Saving service to all of us during a HEAT WAVE! IT IS BACK TO SCHOOL TIME ONCE AGAIN! • Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering wheel. • Watch out for children standing or walking along side of the road and crossing the streets. • Always remember to STOP if you are approaching a school bus with a Stop Sign, or Flashing Red Lights, either from the front or behind. It is the LAW. PAGE 12 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Hello Taxi Dave This vehicle illegally solicited these passengers on the West Side Highway on Greenwich street @ 2:26 am. LETTERS John L. Laguardia
(Continued from Page 3) 23RD Street his fi nger waving no as a suggested gesture to refusal to pay. I countered this gesture by saying sir you have only two options at this point, A) Pay the metered fare Or B) I will call the police and submit the photo to law enforcement which will lead to imprisioent. He quickly cooperated to pay. Payment is resolved. John L Is The Law! Above The Law!
Hey there Dave, Just noticed that you can no longer make a left turn from 23rd St onto 6th and 8th Ave. Time to get the DOT Commisioner back on your show again. Pat
Dear Taxi Dave, It isn’t bad enough the DOT is cutting the legs from taxi drivers but what does it take for them to under- stand that what they are doing by not allowing turns on certain streets/avenues now means more congestion and traffi c at other intersections. It’s one thing we can’t make left turns but now we can’t make a right turn onto 6ave from 23 st. So now drivers are gonna congest not only 8th ave but also 21 st, 19 st because there is no thru roadway thru Madison park if I need to drop someone off on 6 ave and 24 or 25 st. What makes this more irritating is that tlc has stopped sending us notifi cations and emails onto our meters to let us know of road changes. Instead of work- ing with us and helping us. They work against us. Tommy Refusal To Pay
Dear Taxi Dave, Almost everyday I see this vehicle (CTX9158) is parked at the fi re hydrant or on cross walk in Astoria neiborhood (11102). An NYPD staff is breaking the law almost everyday. What would be happened if a general public parked like this? Sincerely, Abul Asad Khan Illegal Taxi Hail Dear Taxi Dave, The Laguardia Airport Terminal Main bathrooms are disgusting. Not even 3rd world countries have Hello Taxi Dave, bathrooms as fi lthy and unhygienic as the one in This customer requested for me to take him to Terminal Main I’ve attached a Pakistani Newspaper 505 west 37th street. I was able to snap a picture of which talks about the bathrooms and a separate at- him while he was in the lobby. As I approached the tachment with the English translation. building, he came out. I specifi cally stated “Excuse Khawaja Farooq me sir you forgot to pay. He mad a hand gesture with (Continued on Page 18) SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 13 from its app, where human drivers and wrong, according to Raffi Krikorian, Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives riders are logging roughly 100 million the company’s engineering director. in Pittsburgh This Month miles per day, to quickly improve its “We’re interacting with reality every self-driving mapping and navigation day,” he says. “It’s coming.” Near the end of 2014, Uber co- reached an agreement to buy Otto, a systems. “Nobody has set up software For now, Uber’s test cars travel founder and Chief Executive Officer 91-employee driverless truck startup that can reliably drive a car safely with safety drivers, as common sense Travis Kalanick flew to Pittsburgh that was founded earlier this year and without a human,” Kalanick says. and the law dictate. These profession- on a mission: to hire dozens of the includes engineers from a number “We are focusing on that.” ally trained engineers sit with their world’s experts in autonomous ve- of high-profile tech companies at- In Pittsburgh, customers will re- fingertips on the wheel, ready to take hicles. The city is home to Carnegie tempting to bring driverless cars to quest cars the normal way, via Uber’s control if the car encounters an un- Mellon University’s robotics depart- market, including Google, Apple, app, and will be paired with a driver- expected obstacle. A co-pilot, in the ment, which has produced many of and Tesla. Uber declined to disclose less car at random. Trips will be free front passenger seat, takes notes on the biggest names in the newly hot the terms of the arrangement, but a for the time being, rather than the a laptop, and everything that happens field. Sebastian Thrun, the creator person familiar with the deal says standard local rate of $1.30 per mile. is recorded by cameras inside and of Google’s self-driving car project, that if targets are met, it would be In the long run, Kalanick says, prices outside the car so that any glitches spent seven years researching autono- worth 1 percent of Uber’s most recent will fall so low that the per-mile cost can be ironed out. Each car is also mous robots at CMU, and the project’s valuation. That would imply a price of travel, even for long trips in rural equipped with a tablet computer in former director, Chris Urmson, was of about $680 million. Otto’s current areas, will be cheaper in a driverless the back seat, designed to tell riders a CMU grad student. employees will also collectively re- Uber than in a private car. “That could that they’re in an autonomous car and “Travis had an idea that he wanted ceive 20 percent of any profits Uber be seen as a threat,” says Volvo Cars to explain what’s happening. “The to do self-driving,” says John Bares, earns from building an autonomous CEO Hakan Samuelsson. “We see it goal is to wean us off of having driv- who had run CMU’s National Robot- trucking business. as an opportunity.” ers in the car, so we don’t want the ics Engineering Center for 13 years Otto has developed a kit that Although Kalanick and other self- public talking to our safety drivers,” before founding Carnegie Robotics, a allows big-rig trucks to steer them- driving car advocates say the vehicles Krikorian says. Pittsburgh-based company that makes selves on highways, in theory freeing will ultimately save lives, they face On a recent weekday test drive, components for self-driving indus- up the driver to nap in the back of harsh scrutiny for now. In July a driver the safety drivers were still an es- trial robots used in mining, farming, the cabin. The system is being tested using Tesla’s Autopilot service died sential part of the experience, as and the military. “I turned him down on highways around San Francisco. after colliding with a tractor-trailer, Uber’s autonomous car briefly turned three times. But the case was pretty Aspects of the technology will be apparently because both the driver un-autonomous, while crossing the compelling.” Bares joined Uber in incorporated into Uber’s robot livery and the car’s computers didn’t see it. Allegheny River. A chime sounded, a January 2015 and by early 2016 had cabs and will be used to start an Uber- (The crash is currently being investi- signal to the driver to take the wheel. recruited hundreds of engineers, like service for long-haul trucking gated by the National Highway Traf- A second ding a few seconds later robotics experts, and even a few car in the U.S., building on the intracity fic Safety Administration.) Google indicated that the car was back under mechanics to join the venture. The delivery services, like Uber Eats, that has seen a handful of accidents, computer control. “Bridges are really goal: to replace Uber’s more than the company already offers. but they’ve been less severe, in part hard,” Krikorian says. “And there are 1 million human drivers with robot The Otto deal is a coup for Uber because it limits its cars to 25 miles like 500 bridges in Pittsburgh.” drivers—as quickly as possible. in its simmering battle with Google, per hour. Uber’s cars haven’t had Bridges are hard in part because The plan seemed audacious, even which has been plotting its own any fender benders since they began of the way that Uber’s system works. reckless. And according to most ana- ride-sharing service using self- road-testing in Pittsburgh in May, Over the past year and a half, the driving cars. Otto’s founders were lysts, true self-driving cars are years but at some point something will go (Continued on Page 17) or decades away. Kalanick begs to key members of Google’s operation differ. “We are going commercial,” he who decamped in January, because, says in an interview with Bloomberg according to Otto co-founder An- KAREN A. FRIEDMAN Businessweek. “This can’t just be thony Levandowski, “We were really ATTORNEYS about science.” excited about building something that PRESIDENT ATTORNEY AT LAW IN OFFICE Starting later this month, Uber could be launched early.” Association of WHO PRACTICE: will allow customers in downtown Levandowski, one of the original Motor Vehicle Trial (212) 213-2145 PERSONAL INJURY Pittsburgh to summon self-driving engineers on the self-driving team at Attorneys MATRIMONIAL FLUENT IN ALL MOVING VIOLATIONS REAL ESTATE LAW cars from their phones, crossing an Google, started Otto with Lior Ron, FRENCH important milestone that no automo- who served as the head of product for ALL MOVING COMMERCIAL tive or technology company has yet Google Maps for five years; Claire THROUGHOUT IMMIGRATION achieved. Google, widely regarded as Delaunay, a Google robotics lead; VIOLATIONS the leader in the field, has been testing and Don Burnette, another veteran NEW YORK STATE its fleet for several years, and Tesla Google engineer. Google suffered Motors offers Autopilot, essentially another departure earlier this month Speeding; Red Lights; Traffic Signs a souped-up cruise control that drives when Urmson announced that he, too, the car on the highway. Earlier this was leaving. SUSPENSIONS & WARRANTS LIFTED week, Ford announced plans for an “The minute it was clear to us that autonomous ride-sharing service. our friends in Mountain View were CRIMINALLY RELATED MATTERS But none of these companies has yet going to be getting in the ride-sharing brought a self-driving car-sharing space, we needed to make sure there is Driving While Intoxicated (DWI); service to market. an alternative [self-driving car],” says Uber’s Pittsburgh fleet, which Kalanick. “Because if there is not, Reckless Driving; will be supervised by humans in we’re not going to have any business.” the driver’s seat for the time being, Developing an autonomous vehicle, Aggravated Unlicensed Operation consists of specially modified Volvo he adds, “is basically existential for XC90 sport-utility vehicles outfitted us.” (Google also invests in Uber with dozens of sensors that use cam- through Alphabet’s venture capital SAFETY HEARINGS eras, lasers, radar, and GPS receivers. division, GV.) RD Volvo Cars has so far delivered a Unlike Google and Tesla, Uber has Throughout30 East New33 Street York State handful of vehicles out of a total of no intention of mass-producing its TH 100 due by the end of the year. The own cars, Kalanick says. Instead, the 4 Floor two companies signed a pact earlier company will strike deals with auto 404New Park York, Avenue NY 10016 South this year to spend $300 million to manufacturers, starting with Volvo develop a fully autonomous car that Cars, and will develop kits for other EMAIL:New [email protected] York, NY 10016 will be ready for the road by 2021. models. The Otto deal will help; the The Volvo deal isn’t exclusive; company makes its own laser detec- WEBSITE:between www.NewYorkTraffi 28th and 29th Streets cLawyer.com Uber plans to partner with other tion, or lidar, system, used in many automakers as it races to recruit self-driving cars. Kalanick believes — We Accept Credit Cards — (718) 979-5360 more engineers. In July the company that Uber can use the data collected Fluent in French and Spanish PAGE 14 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Driving Yellow After your application has been completed: We will review your background and will research the following: (Continued from Page 4)
TAXI DAVE’S RADIO SHOW WOR-710AM EVERY SUNDAY! 8:00 – 9:00 PM
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* At Beaver Street ONLY! SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 15 Commissioner’s Corner Quoteable By Meera Joshi STUDY GUIDE When drivers apply for a TLC license, they can now access a compre- hensive study guide in four languages Quotes from the TLC to prepare for the exam. Available in English, Spanish, Bengali, “I take umbrage at Mr. Trump’s no matter how small.” and Urdu, the guide is a major resource comments denigrating your religion, NYC Parks on Trump statue in Union for drivers on TLC rules, geography denigrating your sacrifi ces.” Square. (including points of interest and the NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, directions of streets and avenues, as at an NYPD Muslim Offi cers’ Society “The mayor can disagree with me well as the location of transit hubs and event in Queens. but he can’t disrespect me,” major river crossings), and Vision Zero, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer on the City’s plan to end traffi c fatalities. “That’s why God made scotch.” his ongoing spat with de Blasio. The guide assists drivers in reviewing Rep. John Katko on sharing a ticket the speed limit, red light turns, aware- with Donald Trump. “Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees ness of bike lanes, and the top reasons people of color only as votes, not as hu- Greetings, everyone! We hope you why licensees get critical driver points, “If Congress doesn’t act, there are man beings worthy of a better future.” had a fantastic summer. I am pleased such as moving violations and electronic going to be a lot of happy terrorists out Donald Trump. to share with you some of the latest device usage. We are confi dent this there in the world.” developments at the TLC this fall. guide will assist you in becoming a Mayor Bill de Blasio, on federal anti- “You don’t have any credibility on SAFETY HONOR ROLL more professional and knowledgeable terrorism funding. how to deal with the violence every We hope you will join us this month driver, who will make our City’s streets other day cause you can’t work on even in celebrating the work of TLC-licensed better with his or presence. “I do believe that the level of response one day.” drivers with exemplary safety records, UNIVERSAL LICENSE was far heightened because I’m a black NY1 anchor Errol Louis to Brooklyn as well as the drivers and businesses We will vote this month on the uni- man - no question.” Borough President Eric Adams, State who provide exceptional service to our versal TLC driver’s license, and appre- Assemblyman Michael Blake, who Senator Kevin Parker and City Council city’s many wheelchair users. The TLC ciated the industry’s helpful feedback says he was roughly handled by the members Jumaane Williams and Laurie will hold its third annual Safety Honor during a July hearing on the proposed NYPD. Cumbo, re: J’Ouvert. Roll ceremony on September 14. The rule changes. The universal license ceremony will honor drivers who have will give drivers the fl exibility to move “This is probably bigger than Wa- no traffi c violation or safety-related seamlessly between the sectors of the tergate.” TLC rule convictions on their records, industry that we regulate, whether they Mayor Bill de Blasio, mocking the and have not been in any crashes with want to drive yellow, green, or black. Rivington scandal. injuries for four years or longer. These We are excited that this change will hardworking drivers have kept safe optimize drivers’ earning potential, as “NYC Parks stands fi rmly against their passengers, themselves, and those well as open new channels for them to any unpermitted erection in city parks, they share the street with while logging fi nd the work environment that is best millions of miles. We are proud to for them at this stage in their lives. recognize this amazing achievement, LOSS OF OUR COLLEAGUE and greatly appreciate their support We were greatly saddened to lose our in making the city’s streets safer for colleague Glenell Sullivan last month. NYS DMV Point System all of us. Glenell joined the TLC in June last year Speeding (mph over posted limit) ACCESSIBILITY as a case manager for our prosecution I would also like to share some good division, and worked previously at 1to10...3points news with you on our City’s progress the 311 Call Center, starting in 2009. 11 to 20 . . 4 points in becoming more accessible to people Glenell had an outgoing, friendly spirit, with disabilities. At the end of July, greeting everyone with a smile or pleas- 21 to 30 . . 6 points there were 909 wheelchair-accessible ant hello. She was recently promoted to medallion taxis, up from 237 in 2013. Supervisor of Case Examiners, and we 31 to 40 . . 8 points Almost 300 of these cabs went into ser- will greatly miss her exemplary work More than 40 . . 11 points vice in the six fi rst months of 2016! and dedication. She will be truly missed, Our accessible dispatch program, and we thank her for her service at the Reckless Driving ....5points where passengers can request a wheel- TLC and 311. chair-accessible taxi through a phone DRIVER APPLICATION Failure to stop for a School Bus .5points call, text, app, or website, is also hitting We learned recently that the new Following too closely (tailgating) 4 points new milestones. Since its fi rst full year driver application status look-up on our in 2013, the program has more than website is the most popular New York Inadequate Brakes ..4points doubled the number of monthly trips City government dataset, and are grati- it services. In June, the program had fi ed that it has been a helpful tool for (while driving employer's vehicle)2 points 6,042 requests, and 6,102 in May. thousands of applicants. If you or some- Failing to Yield Right-Of-Way...3points The advent of accessible dispatch one you know has applied for a TLC citywide is also advancing. Currently, driver’s license, you can check the sta- Violation Involving Traffic Signal, the service takes passengers citywide, tus here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/ with trips beginning in Manhattan. We html/industry/new_driver_app_lookup. Stop Sign, or Yield Sign ...3points expect full citywide services to begin shtml. We hope innovations like these Railroad Crossing Violation3 points early in calendar year 2017, with trips will make the licensing process more beginning anywhere-- as well as more convenient for our applicants. Improper Passing or Lane Use ..3points and more wheelchair-accessible cabs Until next time, be safe and drive Leaving scene of an incident involving property to keep hitting the road. like your family lives here! “Call Sunny& Save Money” damage or injury to an animal .. 3points NEED AN ACCOUNTANT? Safety restraint violation involving person SEE under 16 .3points THE TAXI INSIDER DIRECTORY ON Any other moving violation 2 points PAGE 29 Note: Speeding when speed not indicated is 3 points PAGE 16 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Your Medallion Headquarters ! LOMTO Generation Brokerage, Inc. TAXI and BLACK CAR INSURANCE SPECIALISTS ——And Medallion Transfer, Inc. Licensed TLC Broker #R0018 · Insuring the For Hire Industry - Taxi & Black Car · Providing You Service the Way It Should Be - FAST & COURTEOUS · Convenient Mid-Town Location - Hack Stand In Front of Office · Medallion Sales, Leasing, and Financing · Over 25 Years of Industry Experience
435 West 45th Street (Between 9th & 10 th Avenues) New York, N.Y. 10036 Phone: 212 582-5721 Fax: 212 582-5722 Lou Bakalar Jon Goldbetter
TLC Prepares For Taxi Tv’s Termination By Testing Tablets With Wi-Fi And Valuable Apps
smartphone tap-to-pay technology taxi near the Atlantic Terminal Mall such as Apple Pay. in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. “What we’re really hoping to The new system would also feature Taxi TV, already on the brink of “I like to think of this as a dash- do is partner with the Googles, the a GPS taxi meter that communicates cancellation in the city, could give board for your taxi ride,” said Jason OpenTables, the Pandoras of the with satellites to calculate fares. way to sleek tablets packed with apps Gross, global head of product and world and allow the marketplace to There will be a security camera, a — allowing passengers to make res- marketing for taxi systems at Veri- determine what consumers want to fingerprint scanner for cabbies to taurant reservations or stream music fone. “It may just be the information do,” Gross said. start their shifts and panic buttons from the backseat of a cab. you want or need to understand where The TLC approved a pilot in Oc- for drivers. Verifone, one of the companies you’re going, how much it’s costing, tober that allowed companies to build Sarah Kaufman, associate direc- that brought Taxi TV to cabs in 2007, but it also gives you some tools.” their own alternative to Taxi TV, as tor of the NYU Rudin Center for shared with the Daily News a few of the Those tools could include apps long as it met certain requirements, Transportation, said that new taxi changes that could be at commuters’ to book a table at a restaurant, buy a like collecting trip records and han- technology should offer customized fi ngertips by the end of the year. movie ticket and stream music — so dling credit card payments. real-time information — like train The Taxi & Limousine Commis- passengers can ride to their favorite New Yorkers would welcome the departures at Grand Central Ter- sion is testing Verifone’s passenger tunes right from the backseat. tablet option. minal, for example — that today’s information system, which would re- The company is also tinkering “I can save my battery and just transit riders crave and agencies are place the bulky TV touchscreen with with free Wi-Fi and the ability to listen to music in the cab,” Tara Little delivering. a sleek 10-inch Android tablet. make calls on the tablet. It’ll also take said Saturday, as she waited for a (Continued on Page 17) SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 17 business. was talkingabout one of the newer Enough Is Enough Here is the question that needs Pedestrian Plazas, that being West By Nat Goldbetter to be answered. At what point does 33rd St. between Seventh and Eighth the City of New York say enough is Aves. We can only assume that this It does not take a traffic expert to of 2015 that amount nearly doubled enough. There are probably three to is the brain storm of the Department realize that traffic in New to 1,057. The latest figure four times more Black Cars and Liv- of Transportation, but they appear to York City is worse than it from June 2016 that amount ery Cars on the streets than there are be oblivious to what is going on with ever was. Ihave been driving swelled to 1,672 and prob- Yellow Cabs. You can’t drive on half traffic. In case they can’t figure it out in New York City for over ably still growing. Crashes block in the city without seeing TC squeezingdown streets and roads will 50 years and traffic is not involving fatality, from the plates in your face. Iam not sure who bring more accidents, injuries and only heavier than ever it is same dates from 1in 2014 to did the two million dollar study to see fatalities and recklessly closing off almost beyond belief. The 3 in 2015 to 5 in 2016. The if the Ubers and other app companies streets and lanes is going to keep all problem is simply that the article goes on to say that have caused more traffic congestion those previously mentioned statistics City Council,the New York there have been no crashes but whoever they are,they need to moving higher. City Department of Trans- involving a fatality with have their vision checked. Once again when is enough, portation and the Mayor’s yellow taxis in 2016. Mayor DiBlasio’s Vision Zero is enough? Office do not seem to want to do It is not coincidence that these obviously not working simply be- Mayor DiBlasio, City Council,New anything about it. numbers have risen in dramatic cause of the horrendous clogging of York City Department of Transpor- A recent article in the Daily News fashion since the explosion of TLC the New York City streets. Between tation and New York City Taxi and headlined “Crashes soar alongwith licensed vehicles,primarily due Ubers the Bike Lanes and the Pedestrian Limousine Commission this ques- “Uber’’ boom”. The News article and other app companies. We do know Plazas the space in which drivers tions needs to be answered. Isit cited some very relevant statistics for sure it is not the regular black need to negotiate driving roads is 100,000,200,000,500,000 or even in regard to crashes involving Black and livery cars that are increasing,as shrinking day by day. In a recent Tax 1,000,000 it really needs to be ad- Cars. The total amount in July of they are getting hit just as hard as Dave Radio Show, I thought Dave was dressed. 2014 was 534. One year later inJuly the yellow industry as far as losing goingto have a heart attack while he Wake up and smell the fumes! Uber’s First where it is. Uber cars have Global dowski was showing off an early also headquartered to the Golden Gate Positioning System sensors, but those version of Google’s self-driving car. Bridge. The two men would leave (Continued from Page 13) are only accurate within about 10 feet; Kalanick offered to buy 20 of the pro- their offices separately—to avoid company has been creating extremely Uber’s systems strive for accuracy totypes on the spot—“It seemed like being seen by employees, the press, detailed maps that include not just down to the inch. the obvious next step,” he says with or competitors. They’d grab takeout roads and lane markings, but also When the Otto acquisition closes, a laugh—before Levandowski broke food, then rendezvous near the city’s buildings, potholes, parked cars, fire likely this month, Otto co-founder Le- the bad news to him. The cars were Ferry Building. Levandowski says hydrants, traffic lights, trees, and vandowski will assume leadership of running on a loop in a closed course he saw a union as a way to bring the anything else on Pittsburgh’s streets. Uber’s driverless car operation, while with no pedestrians; they wouldn’t company’s trucks to market faster. As the car moves, it collects data, continuing to oversee his company’s be safe outside the TED parking lot. For his part, Kalanick sees it as a and then using a large, liquid-cooled robotic trucking business. The plan is to “It was like a roller coaster with no way to further corner the market for computer in the trunk, it compares open two additional Uber R&D centers, track,” Levandowski explains. “If you autonomous driving engineers. “If what it sees with the preexisting maps one in the Otto offi ce, a cavernous garage were to step in front of the vehicle, it Uber wants to catch up to Google and to identify (and avoid) pedestrians, in San Francisco’s Soma neighborhood, would have just run you over.” be the leader in autonomy, we have cyclists, stray dogs, and anything else. a second in Palo Alto. “I feel like we’re Kalanick began courting Levan- to have the best minds,” he says, and Bridges, unlike normal streets, offer brothers from another mother,” Kalanick dowski this spring, broaching the then clarifies: “We have to have all few environmental cues—there are says of Levandowski. possibility of an acquisition during the great minds.” no buildings, for instance—making it The two men first met at the TED a series of 10-mile night walks from Reprinted with permission from hard for the car to figure out exactly conference in 2012, when Levan- the Soma neighborhood where Uber is Bloomberg News. Committee For Taxi Safety Calls Uber’s L Train Proposal A Street Safety Disaster Waiting To Happen Today, Uber’s Josh Mohrer pub- driver, regardless of their driving record, lished a Newsweek op-ed proposing criminal record or mental fi tness. That a temporary deregulation of Uber in must be why crashes have surged among New York during the 2019 L train Uber and other ridesharing services over shutdown. the past two years. In response to Uber’s proposal, Da- “If the TLC even considers this vid Beier, president of the Committee dangerous proposal, it will be turning for Taxi Safety, released the following its back on public safety and everything statement: Vision Zero stands for.” “Uber’s absurd proposal is a street BACKGROUND: It was recently safety disaster waiting to happen. The reported that crashes among Uber and company has once again revealed its other ridesharing and black car services utter disregard for Vision Zero and regu- more than tripled between July 2014 lations that exist to keep riders safe. and June 2016. According to the report, “In his op-ed today, Uber’s Josh crashes among these drivers increased Mohrer made it clear that he believes from 534 in July 2014 to 1,672 in June TLC licensing, fi ngerprint background 2016. It was also reported that there checks, driver training and proper insur- were fi ve fatal crashes involving black ance serve no purpose at all. He thinks car drivers between May and June of this Photo by David Pollack literally anyone should become an Uber year — just two less than all of 2015. TLC Prepares hail apps snatch them up. “Taxi TV was a novelty at the time (Continued from Page 16) Listen to Podcasts of when it came out,” she said. “But at And as the Ubers and Lyfts of the this point, it has matured past the The Taxi Dave Show and Read city continue to curb traditional taxi point of being welcome. Most New business, Kaufman said the Taxi TV Yorkers turn off Taxi TV within a few Taxi Insider on-line @ alternatives are a sign that the industry minutes of entering a taxi.” wants to meet the needs of riders, Reprinted with permission from NYCTAXINEWS.COM instead of letting Uber and other e- The Daily News. PAGE 18 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 A0255 A0308 Current Medallion Agents Kim Cab Leasing Corp. Taxifl eet Management LLC. A0003 A0204 3864a Flatlands Avenue 34-14 31 Street Cab Management Corp B. Taxi Management Inc. Brooklyn, NY 11234 LIC, NY 11106 27-34 Jackson Avenue 314 West 53 Street (718) 252-8300 (718) 361-6363 LIC, NY 11101 NY, NY 10019 (718) 937-8668 (212) 957-0033 A0259 A0312 Mc Guinness Gotham Yellow LLC. A0011 A0206 Management Corp 75 Canal Street West J & I Maintenance Corp. AJB Taxi Management Inc. 330 Mc Guinness Boulevard Bronx, NY 10451 341 Bergen Street 662 10 Avenue Bklyn, NY 11222 (718) 993-8100 Brooklyn, NY 11217 NY, NY 10036 (718) 389-4483 (718) 858-3502 (212) 956-3177 A0313 A0280 Northwestern Management Corp. A0014 A0213 Eddie’s Management Corp. 35-11 43 Avenue 2nd Floor Midtown Operating Corp. J T L Management Inc. 40-08 24 Street LIC, NY 11101 42-50 24 Street 36-16 Skillman Avenue LIC, NY 11101 (718) 482-8181 LIC, NY 11101 LIC, NY 11101 (718) 707-0072 (718) 937-2080 (718) 392-7000 A0322 A0289 NYC Interboro Management Inc. A0017 A0217 Boulevard Taxi Leasing Inc. 36-02 21 Street 521 West 21st St Management Corp. Medallion Maintenance Inc. 32-56 49 Street LIC, NY 11106 415 West 127 Street 11-38 44 Road LIC, NY 11103 (718) 392-0250 New York, NY 10027 LIC, NY 11101 (718) 932-3312 (212) 665-4900 (718) 472-9000 A0324 A0290 AstoRia Taxi Leasing Corp. A0110 A0224 United Taxi Mgmt. Group, Inc. 32-56 49 Street Winners Garage Inc. S & R Medallion Corp. 43-10 39 Street LIC, NY 11103 34-14 64 Street 625 West 51 Street LIC, NY 11104 (718) 932-3312 Woodside, NY 11377 New York, NY 10019 (718) 392-4600 (718) 458-7000 (212) 957-9200 A0326 A0292 Gotham Yellow LLC. A0113 A0232 City Transport Mgmt 134-02 33 Avenue Checker Management Corp. Wailing Management Inc. 54-18 Broadway Flushing, NY 11354 22-10 Jackson Avenue 31-08 Northern Boulevard Woodside, NY 11377 (718) 993-8100 LIC, NY 11101 LIC, NY 11101 (718) 507-4840 (718) 361-6300 (718) 472-1800 A0336 A0301 Taxi World Inc. A0201 A0236 Napasei Management Corp. 627 West 51 Street Green Apple Management Corp. D & J Management Of Queens Inc. 607 West 47 Street New York, NY 10019 34-20 31 Street 34-14 64 Street New York, NY 10036 (212) 265-4022 LIC, NY 11106 Woodside, NY 11377 (646) 641-8307 (718) 361-5555 (718) 458-6609 A0307 A0202 A0249 Taxifl eet Management LLC All Taxi Management Inc On Our Way Management Corp. 54-11 Queens Boulevard 41-25 36 Street 6814 5 Avenue Woodside, NY 11377 LIC, NY 11101 Bklyn, NY 11220 (718) 779-5000 (718) 361-0055 (718) 833-8125 Taxi dispatchers Hey Taxi Dave, Great show! GREAT calls about the FIASCO at LaGUARDIA and the non-existant ‘planning’ LETTERS and traffic NIGHTMARE! I live about FIVE BLOCKS from LaGuardia and can’t remember ANY serious discussion with (Continued from Page 12) neighborhood leaders and Port Authority about this Autonomous Taxis And city would have sold these rights to some while HORRIBLE construction disaster! giving away these rights to others. The government WHO IS TO BLAME ?? Medallion Rights will will be force to accept and choose that either Coumo and de Blasio are ONCE AGAIN taking Dear Taxi Dave, taxi medallion owners be the only ones allowed to our VALUED tourists for granted - and these guests The predicted future is likely to include au- perform this service or the government compensat- MAY not come back after being TORTURED at tonomous taxis. ing their owners.!!! our airports !! There won’t be a need to have a partition in a Michael Simon Also - Taxi dispatchers should be REQUIRED taxi because there wouldn’t be a need to protect to have Taxi and / or Limo licenses... the driver. Fare Apps And yellow cab drivers should be required to Black cars and taxis both wont have parti- speak AT LEAST basic English.... Dear Taxi Dave, tions. WE ARE NOT clueless UBER rookie DRIV- I am an owner driver and have answered and Taxis will may still accept cash with the addi- ERS! We are PROFESSIONALS! taken three Arro-app fares. Two of the three got out tion of a cash payment machine. Anyway - back to work we go! of my car without paying me! I went to Arro and These vehicles or a certain portion will be au- Sincerely, they are some how reimbursing me. Many of my tonomous wheelchair accessible vehicles , capable JFK Mike friends are experiencing the same thing with both of loading and securing a wheelchair. apps. My friends that use Way2Ride are having A equal percentage will be in both taxis and the same thing with passengers not paying at the Wheelchair Passenger black cars. destination but they are not getting reimbursed. Hello Taxi Dave, So no difference there. This is not fair. Today I was driving in the Bronx around 3am on In the future there is no difference between them. Mr. Singh The issue of taxi medallions will be obvious. The (Continued on Page 28) SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 19 PAGE 20 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Queens Boulevard
With truck obstructing one lane of traffi c, three lanes of Queens Boulevard is reduced two. Look at this one. With double park trucks and construction, Queens Boulevard is reduced to one lane for traffi c. But do not Drive 26 mph. Photos by David Pollack Interesting Facts About one-third of New York City’s public park system — or about 10,000 acres — is made up of forests, wood- land, wetlands and marshes that would be more at home in a rural outpost like, say, the Catskills or the Adirondacks than in the middle of a metropolis. These so-called natural areas lie within exist- ing parks around the city, including Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay Parks in the Bronx, Forest and Cunningham Parks in Queens, Marine Park in Brooklyn and the Greenbelt on Staten Island. • • • • • More than 2.8 million people received health insurance through New York State of Health, the online exchange created by the Affordable Care Act. • • • • • The NYPD fi nally cracked down on the Mercer Playground, where drugged- out bums would urinate in public, keeping children away all spring and summer. Taxi Dave is glad to report the Greenwich Village playground is now waiting for the children to return, and will have a police presence from now on. • • • • • SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS & LABOR DAY • 10AM TO 7PM Summertime Thefts Open NOW- OCT. 2 A Bonnie-and-Clyde duo coolly hit up Taxi Dave’s friend John Catsi- 600 Route 17A, Tuxedo, NY 10987 • 845.351.5171 • Open Rain or Shine • matidis’ Gristedes store in Chelsea, RENFAIR.COM stuffi ng 80 cartons of Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream into four Print and present coupon at Faire Box Office to receive one of the following: bags before making for the door. Police SPECIAL SAVINGS LABOR DAY SAVINGS said the man and a woman swiped 49 cartons of Häagen-Dazs and 31 of Ben One full priced & Jerry’s at the Ninth Avenue location $ 00 Adult Ticket One Adult Ticket - $20 2 OFF and resold them. Offer and ticket valid Saturdays or Sundays Offer and ticket valid Labor Day, Monday, NOW - Oct. 2, 2016 only. TAXI SEPT September 5, 2016 only. TAXI SEPT Regular Adult Ticket Price is $25. Limit one coupon per person. Print more coupons at Renfair.com. Children 4 & under always admitted free. Not valid with any other offer. Not valid with online ticket sales. No pets or smoking, please.
SAVE UP TO $5 ON TICKETS AT SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 21 PAGE 22 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 23 Revenge....Not So Sweet By Larry Fisher Member Brokerage Services, LLC As all of us in the appears that Wageworks legitimate taxi industry will partner with Uber DEFENSIVE DRIVING are frustrated, angry, and to provide rides using depressed about the bla- pre-tax dollars. So now COURSE SCHEDULE tant hijacking of our our tax dollars are sub- Classes will be offered the following Saturdays: business, it’s time to sidizing this company’s gather our resources, business. The sickening October 1st brainstorm and come up feeling in my stomach November 5th with ideas beyond law- is consistently aroused suits that are pending, or whenever I read of po- November 5th – will remain Pending lobbying the politicians. litical forces in bed with (depending on amount of interest) The sight of ugliness in Uber. And, it’s not as if the violence across Europe and one has to look far. In Chicago, where Time: 9am – 3pm Mexico is unappealing to many of the Mayor’s brother is one of the early Contact Lori at Member Brokerage Service, LLC our peace-loving brethren. We need investors in Uber, the legitimate taxi DDC given on third fl oor at Melrose Building to find other ways to combat this industry has been decimated. In NYC, scourge. For example, Lyft accused where the prior administration’s TLC 139-30 Queens Blvd. Uber a couple years ago of sabotage Deputy Commissioner, Ashwini 718 523-1300 Extension 1037 by requesting many cars through the Chhabra, has gone on to Uber as app and then cancelling after the Head of Policy Development, it is open accounts with Uber, and fi nd the numerous occasions that trips to the drivers already started to arrive at the likely that his influence at the TLC most heavily traffi cked short trips, so airports have become virtually non- pick-up. There have also been ac- hasn’t disappeared. The crumbs that that the drivers’ pay will be affected existent, so here’s your opportunity cusations flying back and forth re- the current TLC Chair, Ms. Joshi, negatively. We can enjoy watching the to do something about it. garding hacking attempts to sideline has thrown our way so as not to ap- steam coming out their ears instead of Or, go out with a few friends for a the technology for periods of time. pear one-sided have done little to our own as we traverse from river to night of excessive drinking. Make sure The legitimate taxi industry has stop the flow of blood. Eliminating river in rush hour traffi c. Then, make before you call your Uber to take you informally discussed videotaping the English proficiency exam, and sure you give the driver one star for home, you have an alternative means Uber and Lyft drivers making il- establishing the universal license are making the trip so unbearable. to travel. To drown your sorrows, legal street hails, but the TLC still two recent examples of crumbs. Or take some video of the hotels in make sure to have an additional shot must enforce the laws, and despite So while some of us will be taking NYC that continue to have doormen of Patron, so that you’re suffi ciently the City Council’s increase in fines, the weekend of Labor Day to frolic taking payoffs from Uber drivers in inebriated and maybe a bit nauseated. enforcement is pretty pathetic. By with friends and family, others may be exchange for feeding them airport and It wouldn’t hurt if you use Uberpool allowing the law-breaker to settle in hard at work on the mean streets of the other lucrative fares. Since the TLC because the results of the nausea might the OATH court for $250.00, as op- city. All of us need to think of ways doesn’t regulate the hotels, maybe be better served if it is sprayed all posed to $2,000.00, is a joke on us, to exact revenge peacefully on these other agencies of the city would over the other passengers as well as the legitimate taxi industry. Now, it bandits. One idea is for many of us to be interested in the corruption sur- the vehicle itself. And don’t forget to rounding this issue. I have heard on give the driver one star. NCUA Warns of Text Phishing Scam The National Credit Union Administration has received consumer calls OLDEE about a suspicious text message claiming to come from the agency. The message reads: “National Credit Union Administration Alert for (recipient’s phone number). Contact 844-234-5445.” This is not a communication from NCUA. The agency does not seek personal information through the internet Taxi Instruments or on the telephone. A Name You Can Trust Since Your Grandfather Drove a Cab! Please contact NCUA’s Consumer Assistance Center at 1-800-755-1030 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern if you receive one of these messages. NCUA also recommends contacting your credit union and local law enforcement. Taxicab Owners: You may also contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Need a meter? Crime Center. NCUA operates an online Fraud Prevention Center that of- fers information about avoiding frauds and scams on its MyCreditUnion.gov Need advertising? website. If you suspect you may have become a victim of identity theft as a result of Need a GPS System? this scam, you should immediately contact the three major credit bureaus and request a fraud alert be placed on your credit report: Equifax (866-640-2272), Need Roof-lights? Experian (888-397-3742), and TransUnion (855-681-3196). Need Security Cameras? Need a partition? Need Upholstery? Need a Checker Cab?
OLDEE DOES IT ALL! Photo by David Pollack From Taxi Security to Advertising
Phone 718 482-6533 / Fax 718 - 482-7144 24-50 47th Street • Astoria, New York 11103 (4 Blocks from the TLC Inspection Site) Open: Monday to Fridays 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturdays 9:00 am -1:00 pm PAGE 24 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Daus services is not sufficient or fair. • The same product should be (Continued from Page 1) TAXI AND FOR-HIRE VEHICLE offered and afforded to all who fit RELIEF STANDS in the November-December 2016 into certain underwriting categories, edition of the Municipal Lawyer of DOT is not responsible regulating taxis. Taxis are regulated by the New York including workers’ compensation the International Municipal Lawyers City Taxi and Limousine Commission. DOT does regulate taxi relief stands coverage and supplemental policies, Association. The article provides an Taxi relief stands allow drivers to park their vehicles for up to one hour. This as long as the new model proves to analysis and evaluation of develop- affords drivers the opportunity to leave their vehicles and take care of personal make sense over time and provides ments to transportation policy and needs. Taxi relief stands should not be confused with taxi stands, which are realistic coverage. planning since the proliferation of locations where drivers can wait, in their cars, to pick up passengers. HIGH TNC LICENSE FEES = Transportation Network Companies The type column indicates if the relief stand is for taxis alone, or both taxis ANOTHER MEDALLION (“TNCs”), and how to effectively and For-Hire Vehicles (FHVs). Staten Island currently has no relief stands. SYSTEM? approach “leveling the playing field” • High TNC licensing fees, which BRONX between taxis, for-hire vehicles exceed half of a million dollars in TYPE LOCATION CROSS STREET (“FHVs”), and TNCs. some jurisdictions, serve as a bar- Taxi Jerome Ave. (E. Side) Eliot Pl. & E. 170th St. The term “Leveling the Play- rier to entry, create an even more Taxi Metropolitan Ave. (N. Side) Purdy St. & Red Oak Dr. ing Field” (between TNCs and taxi uneven playing field, and may result companies) was coined in early 2015 in the creation of a new TNC quasi- MANHATTAN EAST SIDE ABOVE 23RD STREET during a conference of regulators that medallion system. Taxis E.77th St.(N. Side) First & Second Aves. I organized (i.e., the International As- • Licensing fees in most jurisdic- Taxis E. 86th St. (N. Side) Henderson Pl. & York Ave. sociation of Transportation Regulators tions must bear a rational relationship Taxis E. 78th Street (N. Side) Lexington & Third Ave. www.iatr.global), and is now common to the government’s expenditure of Taxis E. 78th St. (S. Side) Lexington & Third Ave. parlance among the incumbent indus- time and resources on the issuance Taxis & FHVs E. 29th St. (S. Side) Madison & Fifth Ave. try stakeholders, elected and appointed and policing of licenses. Taxis E. 27th St. (N. Side) Park Ave. S. & Madison Ave. offi cials, the media, and academics. DATA SECURITY AND Taxis & FHVs E.28th St. (N. Side) Park Av. S. & Lexington Ave. This new term of art seeks to address PRIVACY PROTECTIONS Taxis & FHVs Madison Ave. (W. Side) E. 26th & 27th St. the regulatory and fi nancial resource Taxis E. 26th Street (S. Side) Third & Second Aves. • Standards are in place for taxi- competitive advantages that TNCs cabs and limousines to ensure that have over small businesses (i.e. the the use of credit and debit cards are MANHATTAN WEST SIDE ABOVE 23RD STREET incumbent taxicab, FHV and limousine Taxis W. 55th St. (S. Side) Tenth & Eleventh Aves. secure, and that passengers’ personal industries), all of which are engaging in and private data is not hacked or Taxis & FHVs Sixth Ave. (W.Side) W. 55th & 56th Sts. virtually the same exact regulated ac- Taxis & FHVs Eighth Ave. (E. Side) W. 52nd & 53rd Sts. breached. tivity (i.e. transporting passengers for • There have been incidents of Taxis Broadway (E. Side) W. 48th & 47th Sts. compensation from point A to point B), Taxis Eighth Ave. (W. Side) W. 46th & 47th Sts. TNC data being hacked and accessed, albeit with different standards. There Taxis & FHVs Sixth Ave. (W. Side) W. 39th & 40th Sts. and the same security measures that are many ways a “level playing fi eld” Taxis & FHVs Sixth Ave. (W. Side) W. 38th & 39th Sts. apply for data security standards Taxis Broadway (E. Side) W. 43rd & 42nd Sts. can be accomplished, and the bigger (such as Payment Card Industry - or Taxis Ninth Ave. (E. Side) W. 42nd & 41st Sts. question is: do policymakers apply a PCI compliance – standards) should Taxis West 39th St. (S. Side) Eighth & Ninth Aves. “Band-Aid” approach with cosmetic be put in place for TNCs as well. Taxis Ninth Ave. (E. Side) W. 30th & 29th Sts. surgical transportation enhancements ENSURING SUSTAINABLE & that do not narrow the equity gap, or SHARED MOBILITY GROWTH MANHATTAN BELOW 23RD STREET do they engage in radical, but neces- • Unbridled and unprecedented Taxis E. 23rd St. First & Second Aves. sary, reconstructive surgery to perma- growth is not good for the environ- Taxis & FHVs Sixth Ave. (W. Side) W. 22nd & 23rd Sts. nently fi x the underlying conditions ment and driver economics, and Taxis Third Ave. (W. Side) E. 14th & 15th Sts. directly? could lead to market failures as well Taxis & FHVs Third Ave. (W. Side) E. 15th & 14th Sts. This white paper contains a col- as increased traffic congestion and Taxis & FHVs Sixth Ave. (W. Side) W.13th & 14th Sts. loquy on the variety of regulatory externalities. Taxis Sixth Ave. (W. Side) Thompson & Grand Sts. approaches available, as well as the • The best way to level the play- Taxis & FHVs Canal St. (N. Side) E. Broadway & Essex St. adverse impacts that TNCs have had ing field is to monitor TNC growth Taxis Park Row (SE. Side) Ann & Beekman Sts. on overall transportation policy and and restrict it under certain circum- Taxis & FHVs Fulton St. (S. Side) Broadway & Church St. planning, and demonstrates that with stances, or mitigate it using incentives Taxis & FHVs South St. (N. Side) Old Slip & Broad St. more funding, collaboration, and a to promote greater sustainability and Taxis & FHVs Water St. (W. Side) Whitehall & Broad Sts. more thorough and comprehensive accessibility. Taxis Whitehall St. (W. Side) South & State Sts, approach, there are solutions to en- ENSURING EQUITY - sure a stable, efficient, and sustain- AFFORDABLE RIDES AND BROOKLYN able transportation future. As fully FAIR COMPETITION FOR ALL Taxis N. Sixth St. (N. Side) Berry St. & Wythe Ave. explained in the report, the key issues • “Surge” pricing raises serious Taxis Fourth Ave. (W. Side) Third & Sixth Sts. to address in order to level the playing issues as to price transparency for field are as follows: consumers, and incentivizes drivers QUEENS CRIMINAL BACKGROUND to work during peak demand times Taxis & FHVs 43rd Ave. (N. side) 11th & 12th Sts. CHECKS - NAMES CHECKS that may include rush hour in central Taxis 44th Rd. (N. Side) 21st & 11th Sts. OR BIOMETRIC business districts. Taxis & FHVs Hunterspoint Ave. 27th & 30th Sts. FINGERPRINTS • To level the playing field, there Taxis 31st St. (W. Side) 34th & 35th Aves. • The use of biometrics – finger- are two possible solutions: (1) elimi- Taxis & FHVs 43rd Ave. 36th & 37th Sts. prints – by regulators in the driver nate double and triple demand pric- Taxis 34th St. (W. Side) 37th & 38th Aves. vetting process provides efficient, ing for TNCs; or (2) allow taxicabs Taxis Skillman Ave. 37th & 36th Sts. cost-effective, and the most compre- to engage in demand pricing on a Taxis Queens Blvd. (S. Side) 50th & 51st Sts. hensive results. similar scale. Taxis Queens Blvd. 55th & 54th Sts. • Equal standards should be Taxis & FHVs 45th Ave. (S. side) Jackson Ave. & 23rd St. WHEELCHAIR required, regardless of the class or ACCESSIBILITY & PUBLIC Taxis & FHVs Pearson St. (W. Side) Jackson Ave. & dead end type of license being sought by the Taxis 49th St. Newtown Rd & Northern Blvd. PARATRANSIT REFORMS driver-applicant. • TNCs, unlike taxicabs and other Taxis 55th St. Queens Blvd & Roosevelt Ave. INSURANCE – 24/7 Taxis Van Dam St. Queens Blvd & Skillman Ave. FHVs, are not required to provide COMMERCIAL OR Taxis & FHVs 36th St. Skillman & 43rd Aves. equivalent service to passengers with SUPPLEMENTAL APP ON/OFF disabilities, and should be mandated Don’t risk a summons trying to fi nd a Relief Stand on the list COVERAGE to maintain a ratio of wheelchair ac- that the TLC web site provides. Texting or searching on-line • Using a personal motor vehicle cessible vehicles to the percentage of while in your cab is against the law. Keep this list in your taxi (“PMV”) policy, which contains the population, in accordance with for future use! commercial or for-hire exclusion demand. provisions, to provide for-hire TNC (Continued on Page 34) SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 25 YOUR ACCESSIBLE VEHICLE HEADQUARTERS
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KOEPPELNISSAN.COM 1-718-898-7800 *Tax & MV Fees are additional Fax (718) 476-8207 NYSDMV7068638. NYSDCA0997779 Lee Komitor PAGE 26 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016
Doubletree Times Square Hotel Holiday Inn Midtown Hotel 1568 Broadway 440 W 57th Street TAXI INSIDER between 47th & 48th Streets between 9th & 10th Avenues
MANHATTAN HOTEL LIST !!! Edison Hotel Holiday Inn Wall Street Hotel 228 W 47th Street 15 Gold Street at Platt Street between 7th & 8th Avenues Dear Readers of TaxiInsider, Hudson Hotel Drivers always tell me that they cannot know the location of every hotel in Elysee Hotel 356 W 58th Street Manhattan. A lot of work went into the list of Manhattan Hotels below. Drivers, 60 E 54th Street Between 8th & 9th Avenues please send Taxi Insider any corrections or additional hotels not mentioned. between Park & Madison Avenues Inter-Continental Barclay Hotel Also, when you are finished reading this issue of Taxi Insider, do not throw this Embassy Suites Hotel 111 E 48th Street newspaper in the garbage, give it to another taxi driver ! Thank you ! 102 North End Ave. between Lexington World Financial Center, Manhattan Park Avenues 60 Thompson Street Best Western Hospitality House Comfort Inn Central Park Hotel Between Broome and Spring Streets 145 E 49th Street 31 W 71st Street between Fairfi eld Inn & Suites Chelsea- Iroquois Hotel between 3rd & Lexington Avenues Central Park West & Columbus Ave. 116 W. 28th St 49 W 44th Street Algonquin Hotel (near 6th Ave) between 5th & 6th Avenues 59 W 44th Street Best Western President Hotel Comfort Inn Manhattan Hotel between 5th & 6th Avenues 234 W 48th Street 42 W 35th Street Four Points Manhattan SoHo- JW Marriott Millennium between 7th & 8th Avenues between 5th & 6th Avenue 66 Charlton St. 160 Central Park South Americana Inn Hotel Best Western Seaport Inn Hotel (near Spring St) between 6th & 7th Avenues. 69 W 38th Street 33 Peck Slip at Front Street Comfort Inn Midtown Hotel between 5th & 6th Avenues 129 W 46th Street Fairfi eld Inn & Suites Times Square Kitano Hotel Bryant Park Hotel between 6th & 7th Avenues 330 W. 40th St 66 Park Avenue at 37th Street Ameritania Hotel 40 W 40th Street (near 9th Ave) 230 W 54th Street at Broadway between 5th & 6th Avenues Comfort Inn New York Hotel La Quinta Manhattan Hotel 442 W 36th Street Fairfi eld Inn & Suites Fifth Avenue 17 W 32nd Street Amsterdam Inn Hotel Carlyle Hotel between 10th & Dyer Avenues 21 W. 37th St between 5th & 6th Avenues 340 Amsterdam Avenue 35 E 76th Street at W 76th St. between Madison & 5th Avenues Courtyard Manhattan 5th Avenue Four Points Sheraton Chelsea Hotel Le Parker Meridien Hotel 3 E 40th Street 160 W. 25th Street 118 W 57th Street Beacon Hotel Carnegie Suites Hotel between Madison & 5th Avenues between 6th & 7th Avenues between 6th & 7th Avenues 2130 Broadway at 75th Street 229 W 58th Street between 7th & 8th Avenues Courtyard Midtown East Hotel Four Points Midtown Times Square Lucerne Hotel Belvedere Hotel 866 3rd Avenue 326 W. 40th St (near 9th Ave) 201 W 79th Street at 319 W 48th Street Casablanca Hotel between 51st & 52nd Streets Amsterdam Avenue between 8th & 9th Avenues 147 W 43rd Street Four Seasons Hotel between 6th & 7th Avenues Courtyard Times Square Hotel 57 E 57th Street Manhattan Broadway Hotel Benjamin Hotel 114 W 40th Street between Park & Madison Aves. 273 W 38th Street 125 E 50th Street at York Avenue Chelsea Hotel between 6th & 7th Avenues between 7th & 8th Avenues 222 W 23rd Street Flatotel International Hotel Bentley Hotel between 7th & 8th Avenues Crowne Plaza Times Square Hotel 135 W 52nd Street Manhattan Seaport Suites Hotel 500 E 62nd Street at York Avenue 1605 Broadway between 6th & 7th Avenues 219 Front Street Chelsea Savoy Hotel between 49th & 50th Streets between Pine & Wall Streets Best Western 204 W 23rd Street Gramercy Park Hotel Convention Center Hotel between 7th & 8th Avenues Crowne Plaza UN Hotel 2 Lexington Avenue at 21st Street Maritime Hotel 522 W 38th Street 304 E 42nd Street 363 W 16th Street at 9th Avenue between 10th & 11th Avenues Chelsea Star Hotel between 1st & 2nd Avenues Grand Hyatt New York Hotel 300 W 30th Street at 8th Avenue Park Avenue & 42nd street Marriott Financial Center Hotel 85 West Street Photo by David Pollack Grand Union Hotel between Albany & Carlisle Streets 34 E 32nd Street between Park & Madison Avenues Marriott East Side Hotel 525 Lexington Avenue (Hampshire Hotel) between 48th & 49th Street Quality Times Square Hotel 157 W 47th Street Marriott Marquis Hotel between 6th & 7th Avenues 1535 Broadway at 44thStreet
Hampton Inn Mayfair Hotel Times Square Hotel 242 W 49th Street 851 8th Avenue at 51st Street between 7th & 8th Avenues
Hampton Inn SoHo Metro Hotel 54 Watts St 45 W 35th Street (near Varick St) between 5th & 6th Avenues
Helmsley Carlton House Hotel Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel 680 Madison Ave 569 Lexington Avenue at 51st Street between 61st & 62nd Sts. Michelangelo Hotel 152 W 51st Street Helmsley Middletowne Hotel between 6th & 7th Avenues 148 E 48th Street between Lexington & Park Aves. Milford Plaza Hotel 270 W 45th Street at 8th Avenue Helmsley Park Lane Hotel 36 Central Park South Millenium Hilton Hotel between 5th & 6th Avenues 55 Church Street between Fulton & Day Streets Hilton Garden Inn Time Square 790 8th Avenue Millennium Broadway Hotel between 48th & 49th Streets 145 W 44th Street between 6th & 7th Aves Hilton New York Hotel 1335 6th Avenue Millennium UN Plaza Hotel between 53rd & 54th Streets 1 United Nations Plaza at 1st Avenue & 44th Street Hilton Times Square Hotel 234 W 42nd Street Murray Hill East Suites Hotel between 7th & 8th Avenues 149 E 39th Street between 3rd & Lexington Avenues Holiday Inn Downtown Hotel Murray Hill Inn Hotel 138 Lafayette Street 143 E 30th Street between Howard & Canal Streets between Lexington & Park Avenues
Holiday Inn Martinique Hotel Broadway & W 32nd Street (Continued on Page 28) SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 27 Average Gas Prices NYC ECONOMY As of September 8, 2016 New York Regular Mid Premium Diesel Transit Ridership Current $2.452 $2.05 $2.893 $2.767 Total ridership on MTA New York City subways and buses in June 2016 was Week Ago $2.462 $2.711 $2.899 $2.780 205.1 million, a 1.2% decrease from June 2015. Subway ridership fell 0.8% Month Ago $2.457 $2.705 $2.893 $2.756 since last June, and bus ridership fell 2.1%. The greatest growth in ridership was for MTA Bridges and Tunnels, which saw an increase of 4.3% from last Year Ago $2.755 $3.019 $3.209 $3.241 June, reaching 27.3 million. tween 2003 and 2015. Source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority. https://www.nycedc.com/sites/default/fi les/fi lemanager/4420-RES-Econ- Snap_Aug2016_charts3.png Air Traffi c In June 2016, 11.7 million passengers fl ew into and out of the New York City Manhattan Offi ce Market region’s airports, an increase of 5.5% from June 2015. There were 79,088 domestic In July 2016, the Manhattan Class A direct vacancy rate rose to 8.6% from fl ights, carrying roughly 7.6 million passengers in July 2016. This compares to 8.5% one-month prior, while the average rental rate remained at $81 per square the 25,583 international fl ights carrying 4.1 million passengers. Freight transport foot. While month-to-month vacancy and rental rates have been steady, rental also increased at regional airports, rising 0.8% from May 2016. This increase rates are up 4.7% over the last year. The Class A sublease rental rate rose by $2 was led by domestic freight, which grew 19.5% from last month. from one-month prior, led by the Midtown and Downtown markets. Source: Port Authority of New York. Broadway Ticket Sales Construction For the 12-months ending July 2016: The number of residential construction Total Broadway attendance was 1,239,086 during the four weeks ending projects fell by 1.1% for the twelve-month period ending July 2016. Further, August 2, 2016, down 3.0% from the same period last year. Broadway revenues non-building construction projects saw a 21.5% drop over this time. Only non- during this period were roughly $130.1 million, down 5.5% from last year. This residential building projects have seen gains, rising 0.4% over the last twelve was the result of average ticket prices falling to $105 from $108 last July, as months. Both the value and square footage of construction projects were down well as decreased attendance. from July 2015 totals. Total new building square footage was down 36.0%, Source: The Broadway League Note: Gross revenue and attendance fi gures while the corresponding value of new building projects was down 35.2%. 1,847 may not include all shows. dwelling units began development across the City in July 2016. Source: Cushman and Wakefi eld Note: based on latest available data. Hotel Occupancy In May 2016, the average daily hotel room rate was $305, a 4.6% decrease from May 2015. Hotel occupancy was 90.0% in May 2016, down from 93.2% Millions In Uncollected Fines in May 2015. These declining room and occupancy rates were present across all price classes and submarkets. By MTA! Source: PKF Consulting Note: Based on latest available data. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority failed to collect more than $13 million in fi nes over two years for public transit-related offenses such as Employment dodging fares. ‘With trains bursting at the seams and delays on the rise, Transit needs every dollar it can get to improve the subway service for straphangers,’ Private sector jobs in New York City rose by 21,500 in July, following June’s Mr. DiNapoli. “Fines are meant to deter bad behavior, but when Transit fails gain of 12,800. Government jobs increased by 200, resulting in overall gains to enforce its own fi nes, it risks sending the message that its rules are made of 21,700 jobs between June and July 2016. The fastest-growing sectors were to be broken.’ The audit found the authority’s Transit Adjudication Bureau, Education and Accommodation and Food Services, which gained 7,200 jobs which handles violations of city transit rules, processed more than 320,000 and 5,200 jobs, respectively. Since July 2015, private sector employment has summonses with fi nes worth more than $30 million from January 2013 to June risen by 93,800 jobs, an increase of 2.6% (more than the national growth rate 6, 2015, but collected about $17 million. In addition, Mr. DiNapoli’s offi ce of 1.9%). The City’s unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in July 2016, up from found, city transit offi cials often didn’t record adequate information on the 5.0% in June. summonses that would be needed to track down alleged violators.” Innovation Index How does one measure innovation in New York City? How innovative is our city? What does so-called “innovation” entail? The Economic Research & Analysis (ERA) team at NYCEDC answers these questions with a City Summonses Jump simple index—the Innovation Index1—that can help quantify innovation growth over time. Index inputs show metrics that contribute to the creation of innova- De Blasio Vowed Cutback tive products, and the outputs show metrics that track economic growth in New “City agencies that issue sum- focused on immediately is ending York City. According to ERA’s fi gures, innovation has increased by 38% since monses besides parking tickets the arbitrary ticket blitzes that were the index began in 2003, growing at a compound annual rate of 2.7%. In short, handed out 633,501 violations in the revenue-based,’ the mayor said in Feb- New York City has seen substantial growth in innovation in recent years. first 11 months of fiscal 2016 - more ruary 2014, two months after taking https://www.nycedc.com/sites/default/fi les/fi lemanager/4420-RES-Econ- than the entire previous year and the office. ... The Sanitation Department Snap_Aug2016_charts1.png most since 2010. In that year, New - which accounts for two-thirds of the • Inputs used to measure innovation can be broken down into fi nance, research Yorkers were hit with 694,273 sum- summonses - carpeted the city with and development (R&D) spending, and human capital, which collectively grew monses for offenses ranging from 417,252 from July 2015 through May 2.2% between 2014 and 2015 and 46% overall between 2003 and 2015. dirty sidewalks to dirty restaurants. 2016. During the previous two years, • Human capital in the science and engineering fi elds (S&E), measured by While running for mayor, de Blasio it handed out 368,577 and 419,590, graduate student enrollment and employment, has grown less prominently rela- ripped the Bloomberg administration respectively. Summonses are also up at tive to the other input metrics, increasing 18% between 2003 and 2015. While for giving out too many nuisance sum- most of the nine other agencies that fall the number of graduate and postdoctoral students in S&E professions grew by monses unnecessarily and promised to under the ECB umbrella, from Parks 5% between 2010 and 2015, the actual number of S&E employees in New York institute reforms. ‘The thing that we’re to Environmental Protection.” City grew by 14%, indicating that students are migrating to the City for work. Roughly 44% of the STEM workforce in New York City is foreign-born, further suggesting that a large portion of labor in the innovation economy is imported IRS Scam from abroad. Beware of any phone calls from Washington. Victims have claimed the https://www.nycedc.com/sites/default/fi les/fi lemanager/4420-RES-Econ- con-artists claiming they are from the callers often threaten to send police Snap_Aug2016_charts2.png Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Scam- or begin the home foreclose process • Real GCP (in 2009 dollars) within high-tech sectors exceeded $26 billion mers have been known to trick residents after receiving a lack of cooperation. in 2015, which is more than double the 2003 value.4 Workers in the high-tech nationwide into sharing private infor- The IRS never employs these tactics as industries have also become more productive over the years, as the amount of mation, and often alter caller ID to look they have formal procedures in place GCP per worker steadily grew at a compound annual growth rate of 2.2% be- like the call is coming from the IRS in (Continued on Page 38) PAGE 28 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 the city which allows direct competition that does not have to serve the public. Michael LETTERS When It Rains Dear Taxi Dave, Thirsty and on the run, I jumped in a yellow (Continued from Page 18) cab and quickly opened my extra large bottle of 149th street near Morris avenue. A man arrived by Raising Your Arm seltzer water, immediately drenching myself and my vehicle requesting for a WAV vehicle. I didn’t the entire interior (floor to ceiling) of the cab. Dear Taxi Dave, Thankfully, Cabby stayed dry behind the plastic have the ramp and I asked him to contact a local Taxis did not buy the motion of raising your car service or call 311. He stated that his phone divider, but as he took the next street super fast, arm, nobody buys such a thing . We bought street I sort of panicked, wondering if he was annoyed battery was depleted. At that point I felt sorry for hail , we bought the right to be the taxis of NYC. him and proceeded to call 311. Operator stated that about the carbonated back-seat nightmare. What else does street hail mean? except the fact Soaking in soda and shame, I threw open my TLC doesn’t provide immediate service in all the that if the city needed taxis we were the ones that Boros except Manhattan. The number I called was purse and grabbed the first thing I found — a giant would be the ones. Thats what we bought . We maxi-pad — which I hastily began using to absorb (646) 599-9999. The operator offered a Bronx car were/are the common man , buying a common service number to me as an alternative. I called the the results of my bubbly water explosion. I was business of a taxicab . still detailing the plastic divider with the maxi-pad Bronx number and they stated immediate service The city owes us the right to be the exclusive for a WAV vehicle is unavailable. It must be by wings when the cab stopped across town. taxi. As I sheepishly handed him soggy cash, Cabby appointment only. The man in the wheelchair was Michael S. yelling and stating that he will never get home. I tapped his head, pointed at the waterlogged maxi understood his frustration. The rain was coming in my hand and laugh-yelled in a thick Russian down and the man waited outside with the hope Illegal Hail accent: “Very inventive! That is why women rule of a WAV vehicle to come. This was so heart Dear Taxi Dave, the world!” wrenching for me as I felt the feeling of what a On Any saturday morning when the cruise ships Lisa wheelchair customer must go through to catch a cab come in. Between 7:00 AM and 11:00 AM, on Reprinted with permission from The New York in New York City. I tried to keep him calm as he West 48th street and 12th avenue (south east Times. was shouting with disbelief that a WAV cab wasn’t corner facing north). You will find black cars parked available. I became more motivated to help him. on 48th street facing east and black cars parked I googled car service in the Bronx and obtained a north east corner of 48street facing north. These substantial directory for the Bronx area. I called black cars and livery cars are parked near the yel- each base and quickly learned that there wasn’t a low cabs. A group of about 20 different hustlers WAV vehicle on duty at that hour. This troubled stand in front of the yellow cab line and taxi stand, me as the man became more irate. I didn’t want They solicite/steal passengers away into black cars. to leave him until I found assistance. I spotted a They usually take all of the big jobs and leave the total of two green WAV vehicles during this time yellow cabs with the small penn station/Grand cen- and both drivers stated they were unavilible. I felt tral/Port authority jobs. furthermore, they pay the emotional as a tear started to come out of my eye. workers on the cruise ship traffice patrol to bring I started to feel the hopelessness feeling that the them the jobs instead of coming to the yellow cab wheelchair person was having sinking into the core taxi stand. I’ve been informed by many yellow cab of my heart. This was in a span of approximately drivers that this is something that is pretty normal 30 to 45 min and I was unsuccessful. I didn’t like and has been going on for years. the feeling of failure. Then he said “ I might as Tanveer well stay on the street tonight since I’m unable to make it home. These words penetrated my soul. I hated the feeling of helpnesses. I started to feel Discrimination angry inside. The wheelchair person started to Dear Taxi Dave, leave and I ask him where are you going? He The TLC mandates that we except cash. There- didn’t want to talk me. He kept moving towards fore needing more security apparatus.The TLC also Lincoln Hospital. I assumed that he was headed mandates that black cars limit their cash.Therefore to the emergency room but he ignored me due to needing less security apparatus. This need for more the frustration he had of not being able to catch a security in taxis renders our vehicles less comfort- taxi like anyone else. So sad able. Taxis , in exchange for obeying regulations Photo by David Pollack John L. that serve the public, are discriminated against by
Regency Hotel 45 Park Avenue at 37th Street Manhattan Hotel List 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street TriBeCa Grand Hotel Sherry Netherland Hotel 2 6th Avenue (Continued from Page 28) Roger Smith Hotel 781 5th Avenue at 59th Street between White & Walker Streets Muse Hotel Pennsylvania Hotel 501 Lexington Avenue at 47th Street 130 W 46th Street 401 7th Avenue Shoreham Hotel Trump International Hotel between 6th & 7th Aves. between 32nd & 33rd Streets Roger Williams Hotel 33 W 55th Street 1 Central Park West 131 Madison Avenue at 31st Street between 5th & 6th Avenues at Columbus Circle Palace Hotel Pierre Hotel 455 Madison Avenue 2 E 61st Street at 5th Avenue Roosevelt Hotel Skyline Hotel W Court Hotel between 50th & 51st Streets 45 E 45th Street at Madison Avenue 725 Tenth Avenue at 49th Street 130 E 39th Street Plaza Hotel between Lexington & Park Avenues Novotel Hotel 768 5th Avenue at Central Park South Salisbury Hotel Sofi tel Hotel 226 W 52nd Street 123 W 57th Street 45 W 44th Street W New York Hotel between 7th & 8th Avenues Plaza Athenee Hotel between 6th & 7th Avenues between 5th & 6th Avenues 541 Lexington Avenue at 49th Street 37 E 64th Street Paramount Hotel between Madison & 5th Avenues San Carlos Hotel SoHo Grand Hotel Waldorf Astoria Hotel 235 W 46th Street 150 E 50th Street 310 W Broadway 301 Park Avenue between 7th & 8th Avenues Radio City Suites Hotel between 3rd & Lexington Avenues between Canal & Grand Streets between 49th & 50th Streets 142 W 49th Street Park Central Hotel between 6th & 7th Avenues Sheraton Manhattan Hotel Solita SoHo Hotel Warwick Hotel 870 7th Avenue at 56th Street 790 Seventh Avenue 159 Grand St 65 W 54th Street at 6th Avenue Radisson Lexington Hotel between 51st & 52nd Streets Park Savoy Hotel 511 Lexington Avenue at 49th Street St. Regis Hotel Westin NEw York Grand Central 158 E 58th Street Ramada New Yorker Hotel Sheraton New York Hotel 2 E 55th Street at 5th Avenue 212 E 42nd Street between 6th & 7th Avenues 481 8th Avenue at 34th Street 811 Seventh Avenue between 2nd & 3rd Avenues between 52nd & 53rd Streets Travel Inn Hotel Peninsula Hotel Renaissance Hotel 515 W 42nd Street 700 5th Avenue at 55th Street 714 7th Avenue at 48th Street Sheraton Russell Hotel between 7th & 8th Avenues SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 29
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beach and Boardwalk, cling to each other to be more for the old at heart—but it will NYC FUN! on the rides in Luna Park and scarf down bring out your childlike competitive side Riverside strolls, gourmet picnics Rowboat in Central Park: Did you hot dogs at Nathan’s (and please stick with shuffl eboard lanes, Connect Four and beach getaways are just a few of the really think we could leave this off the to that order—hot dogs followed by a and oversize Jenga (plus there are DJs romantic dates couples visiting New York list? Up the dreaminess by dining at the roller-coaster ride may have decidedly and food trucks). City can try this summer. The rich culture Central Park Boathouse and crossing over non-romantic results). Summer Streets: The roads of NYC and diverse topography mean that every Bow Bridge. Rockaway Beach: Immortalized by turn into a giant playground for three pair can sneak in a little summer lovin’ Wave Hill: Check out this beautiful the Ramones, this sunny Queens spot Saturdays in the summer. Bring your once the weather heats up. We’ve picked green space—which includes a garden, has two surf beaches, seaside restaurants paramour zip-lining, rock climbing or a wide range of activities so the two of park and art gallery—that overlooks the and hip bars like Connolly’s and Low water sliding along roughly seven miles you can mix and match (but together, of Hudson River in the Bronx. Tide Bar. of open pavement. course); read on to fi nd swoon-worthy Artistic-Minded Couple Cinephilic Couple Theater-Going Couple NYC summer dates for every type of Frick Collection: Immerse yourself Cool down at the Syndicated, Metro- Broadway in Bryant Park: Get free couple. in the romance of the rococo Fragonard graph or Nitehawk theaters: these are front-row seats to musical numbers from Sporty Spice Couple Room, home to the French painter’s Prog- not your Regals or AMCs. The newish shows like Waitress, Fun Home and Free kayaking: Grab a paddle at ress of Love cycle—and lavish period hybrids pack in charming decor, full Something Rotten on Thursdays in Bryant Tribeca’s Pier 26 Boathouse and get decor to match. menus and bar offerings along with cu- Park. Savings are romantic, right? out on the Hudson River for roughly 20 The Met Roof Garden Bar: After rated movie pickings. Governors Island: Sound of Music minutes. In Queens, check out the Long strolling through the behemoth Met Fifth Young-at-Heart Couple geeks can twirl with arms wide open on Island City Community Boathouse and Avenue museum, head up to the rooftop Mini Golf at Pier 25: If you want to the island’s new hills and even ride their row on the East River. bar and garden to see views of Central feel like you’re visiting a campy beach vintage bicycles under tree-lined streets. Running: Take advantage of the City’s Park and this year’s art exhibit, Transi- town within NYC, head to Pier 25 in Wearing outfi ts made out of window stunning vistas and work up a sweat with tional Object (PsychoBarn) by Cornelia Tribeca. curtains is up to you. these running trails in all fi ve boroughs. Parker. While you’re there, sip on themed Royal Palms Shuffl eboard: OK, you Reprinted with permission from Experts claim that couples who work out drinks like the Red Barn sangria and the might imagine this Florida-inspired bar NYCgo.com. together forge a special bond. Corpse Reviver. Baseball game: Prefer to be a specta- The Met Cloisters: The historic arches tor? Head to a Mets or Yankees game for and central garden of the Met Cloisters Movie Guide For New York City an all-American date. almost upstage the medieval art that fi lls Thursday, September 16 Food-Loving Couple up this museum in Fort Tryon Park. “Ghost”: LIC Landing at Hunters Point South Park, Hunts Point, Long Island Grand Banks: Dine on a refurbished, Stuart Davis at the Whitney: In spring City - Sundown refi ned schooner docked off Pier 25 in 2015 the new, glass-paned Whitney the Hudson River. The seafood-centric opened in the Meatpacking District. It’s restaurant is particularly popular for its still a hot spot. One of the biggest exhibits lobster rolls. this summer is Stuart Davis’ jazzy In Full Shake Shack: If you want to do some- Swing. While you’re there, grab a bite thing more low key (fi rst date, maybe?), to eat at Danny Meyer’s Untitled, the the original Shake Shack is a good bet. lobby-level restaurant, or sip cocktails Dragonfl y Grab the famous burgers and shakes and outside on the eighth-fl oor Studio Café eat under the twinkly lights in Madison balcony. Square Park. Musical Duo Smorgasburg: In Brooklyn, Smorgas- Celebrate Brooklyn: Check out this Graphics llc. burg and summer are almost synonymous. series in the Prospect Park Bandshell. In Over the years, the weekly outdoor food addition to the bands, the food menu is •Design and Print festival has expanded in its home borough pretty great. to two locations (Williamsburg and Pros- MoMA PS1 Warm-Up: This alter- media experts. pect Park), plus one in Lower Manhattan native concert series includes sets by at the Seaport. Try dishes from several experimental musicians and DJs in the •Over 25 years different food trucks and create your own courtyard and admission to the museum; experience in gourmet picnic. After all, studies have you can also buy food and drink from M. shown that trying new things together Wells Dinette. Graphics. helps relationships thrive. SummerStage: Catch (mostly) free Consider as well these places to eat concerts in virtually every genre at this •Certifi ed Union outside. fi ve-borough summer series. Romantic Couple Retro Couple Printers. Brooklyn Heights Promenade: Stun- Flea Markets: Shop for vintage duds ning views of Lower Manhattan serve as and accessories together at outdoor fl ea 4 Court Square the backdrop here, while blooming fl ow- markets around the City. Brooklyn Flea Long Island City, NY 11101 ers, trees and the brownstones of Brooklyn and LIC Flea & Food are among the (718) 392-3460 Heights serve as the, um…frontdrop? Park big ones. yourselves on a bench and watch all the Jazz Age Lawn Party: The fi rst week- Fax (718) 786-5931 other heart-eyes-emoji couples walk by. end of the 1920s fest has passed, but you www.dragonfl ygraphics.info Or just recreate moments from romantic have plenty of time to style your bob e-mail: dragonfl [email protected] comedies like Moonstruck, which fi lmed and work on your Charleston for August scenes here. 13–14 on Governors Island. The High Line: This elevated garden Midsummer Night Swing: Lincoln and pathway is always picturesque, but Center throws footloose and fancy-free you’ll get extra points from your sweetie lessons focused on swing, ballroom and if you catch the sunset over the Hudson jazz dancing. River. Plus, most of the crowds should A Couple of Beach Bums have cleared out by then. Coney Island: Get some sun on the PAGE 34 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Daus smaller measures could help, the most significant impact would be: (1) to September Book Signings (Continued from Page 24) institute growth limitations coupled • Public paratransit subsidies, with incentives that promote clean which are not efficiently used on air, accessibility and service to un- multi-passenger vans that operate on derserved areas; (2) to equally apply, non-fixed routes, could be directed limit and/or eliminate surge pricing; to wheelchair accessible taxicabs and (3) to reform public paratransit by and FHVs. redirecting wasted multi-passenger UNIVERSAL TAXICAB APPS van subsidies to wheelchair acces- • An easy-to-use universal e-hail sible taxicabs and for-hire vehicles application gives customers access to, with uniform dispatch systems or and the ability to electronically hail apps. In terms of planning these Abby Wambach, US women’s soccer star the entire fleet of locally available signing copies of Forward changes, transit planning agencies, taxis through a single smartphone or airports, business improvement dis- 9/12/16 7:00 PM at Book Revue mobile device application, which al- New York Avenue. Huntington, NY. tricts, incumbent for-hire and taxi lows local taxi industries to maintain industries, TNCs and others must all 9/13/16 Noon at Barnes & Noble high revenues for drivers and fast Fifth Avenue. New York, NY. be at the table working together, with and reliable service for consumers, 9/15/16 6:00 PM at BookEnds government taking the lead. and in doing so, to more effectively East Ridgewood Avenue. Ridgewood, NJ. FOOTNOTES 9/16/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble compete with TNCs. 1. Andrew P. Matera, an associate at- Mt. Hope Avenue. Rochester, NY. SELF-REGULATION torney with the law fi rm of Windels GOVERNMENT REGULATION Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, assisted Mike Love, founding member of The Beach Boys, OR A HYBRID-TECH in the preparation of this article. signing copies of Good Vibrations BASED MODEL? 2. A study released in May 2015, that 9/13/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble • In general, governments, and not I co-authored, was peer reviewed by a Union Square. New York, NY. private parties, should be the ones blue ribbon panel of academics, crimi- who regulate; but if TNCs are allowed nologists, law enforcement offi cials, and Roger Bart, Rachel York, and other cast members to engage in self-regulation due to security experts, who provided approval sign copies of Disaster! the lack of government resources, for the conclusions reached. 9/14/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble they should be required to pay for See: http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/ East 86th Street . New York, NY. the enforcement resources and turn wp-content/uploads/2015/06/back- over their data to facilitate auditing ground_check_report.pdf. Elizabeth Vargas, ABC News correspondent and compliance. 3. PCI standards include building signing copies of Between Breaths • Strong local enforcement efforts and maintaining a secure network; 9/14/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble coupled with stringent and uniform policies for protecting cardholder data; Union Square. New York, NY. safety, consumer protection, and li- maintaining vulnerability management censing standards at a state level is Mara Wilson, star of “Matilda” and “Mrs. Doubtfi re” programs, such as antivirus programs; ideally how such a regulatory system implementing strong access controls; signing copies of Where Am I Now? would work. 9/14/16 7:00 PM at The Astoria Bookshop regular system monitoring and main- With every cloud, there is hope taining an information security policy. 31st Street. Astoria, NY. for a silver lining. With TNCs, the 9/17/16 Noon at Ample Hills Creamery See: http://searchcompliance.techtar- solution could be an awakening of Nevins Street. Brooklyn, NY. get.com/defi nition/PCI-compliance. high-level transportation policy plan- 4. For example, all of New York Jamie Lee Curtis, fi lm and TV star ning that re-imagines the transporta- City’s for-hire vehicle bases, including signing copies of This Is Me tion ecosystem for our sustainable black car and luxury limousine bases, 9/19/16 6:00 PM at BookEnds future, with all modes and technology must have the capability to dispatch East Ridgewood Avenue. Ridgewood, NJ. in mind. In order to make progress a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. See: 9/20/16 4:00 PM at Barnes & Noble in leveling the playing field, certain http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/faq/ East 86th Street. New York, NY. safety and accountability standards faq_access_veh.shtml. must be raised for TNCs on back- http://nuridetransportationgroup. Norm MacDonald, former “Saturday Night Live” star, ground checks and insurance, and com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ signing copies of Based On A True Story these standards must apply to all. Accessible-Transportation-Reform- 9/21/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble While universal apps and many Study-Daus-Mischel-7.30.14-2.pdf. Union Square. New York, NY. Photo by David Pollack Brian McKnight, R&B singer-songwriter signing copies of An Evening With Brian McKnight 9/23/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble East 86th Street. New York, NY.
Idina Menzel, Broadway & fi lm star signing copies of idina. 9/23/16 1:00 PM at Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue. New York, NY.
Carli Lloyd, US women’s soccer star signing copies of When Nobody Was Watching 9/26/16 3:00 PM at Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue. New York, NY. 9/26/16 7:00 PM at BookEnds East Ridgewood Avenue. Ridgewood, NJ. 9/29/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble Haddonfi eld Road. Cherry Hill, NJ.
Alton Brown, star of “Good Eats” and “Cutthroat Kitchen” signing copies of EveryDayCook 9/27/16 7:00 PM at Book Revue New York Avenue. Huntington, NY. 9/28/16 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble Union Square. New York, NY. SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 35 THE TAXI DAVE SHOW Brought To You by Melrose Credit Union ATTENTION TAXI DRIVERS! TAXI RADIO EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT NEW YORK’S #1 TALKER WOR-710AM Sunday 8:00 – 9:00 PM PAGE 36 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Sidewalk In Brooklyn Double Parked in Queens
STATS STAT OF THE DAY -- 937: Num- ber of people in New York City who unintentionally overdosed on drugs in 2015, compared with 541 in 2014 STAT OF THE DAY -- 23%: How many of murders, rapes, robberies and assaults in city parks increased in the nine months through March, compared to a year earlier, according to Wall Street Journal CITY PAYS DEAD - “An audit of the state Medicaid system by the state comptroller’s office found $2.3 million in payments for dead patients, part of some $12.1 million in inap- propriate payments made between April 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2015. The audit found that New York State of Health, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, enrolled 119 people who were deceased into the Medic- aid program and did not automati- cally terminate 1,177 enrollees who died after enrollment. Nearly 4,900 claims totaling almost $2.3 million on behalf of 966 enrolled recipients were paid out. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office said 766 of the dead enrollees still had active Medicaid coverage at the end of its fieldwork, and a subsequent state Department of Health review found that four of those people were actually still alive. The other 762 accounts were closed.” Injured Bicyclist Sues Dinkins Former mayor accused of breaking deliveryman’s ankle in hit-and-run -- New York Post: “Former Mayor David Dinkins struck a bicycle-riding food deliveryman with his car and drove off, leaving the man lying injured on the roadway, a lawsuit fi led Friday charges. Dinkins, 89, was driving his Choose Your Car 2013 ¬Cadillac south on York Avenue at about 11:50 a.m. on June 30 when he struck Rodrigo Garcia, according to a lawyer for the alleged victim, who is suing in Manhattan Supreme Court. Dinkins told cops the bicyclist drove into the side of his car. Garcia told po- lice he was pedaling north on York to make a delivery and was about to turn left onto East 69th Street when, the suit Defensive Driving Class alleges, Dinkins’ Caddy caught the front basket of Garcia’s bike, throwing him Available Free to the ground.” SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 37 Events For You and Your Passengers in The Big Apple Broadway Shows Off Broadway Shows
ALADDIN LES MISERABLES AVENUE Q SAM EATON’S New Amsterdam Theatre Imperial Theatre New World Stages THE QUANTUM EYE 214 West 42nd Street 249 West 45th Street 340 West 50th Street MENTALISM & MAGIC SHOW Theatre 80 AN ACT OF GOD LONG DAY’S JOURNEY BLACK ANGELS OVER 80 St. Marks Place The Booth Theatre INTO NIGHT TUSKEGEE 222 West 45th Street American Airlines Theatre Actors Temple Theatre SEX TIPS FOR STRAIGHT 227 West 42nd Street 339 West 47th Street WOMEN FROM A GAY MAN AN AMERICAN IN PARIS The 777 Theatre Palace Theatre LOVE. LOVE. LOVE BLUE MAN GROUP 777 Eighth Avenue 1564 Broadway Laura Pels Theatre Astor Plae Theatre 111 West 46th Street 424 Lafayette Street SHEAR MADNESS BEAUTIFUL New World Stages THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL MATILDA CAGNEY 340 West 50th Street Stephen Sondheim Theatre THE MUSICAL Westside Theatre 124 West 43rd Street Shubert Theater 407 West 43rd Street SISTAS: THE MUSICAL 225 West 44th Street St. Lukes Theatre BLACKBIRD DRUNK SHAKESPEARE 308 West 46th Street Belasco Theatre NAPOLI, BROOKLYN The Lounge at Roy Arias Theatre 111 West 44th Street Laura Pels Theatre 300 West 43rd Street STOMP 111 West 46th Street Orpheum Theatre BRIGHT STAR FUERZA BRUTA 126 Second Avenue Cort Theatre NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE The Daryl Roth Theatre 138 West 48th Street GREAT COMET OF 1812 101 East 15th Street THE BERENSTAIN BEARS Imperial Theatre The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre CATS 249 West 45th Street GAZILLION BUBBLE SHOW 5 West 63rd Street Neil Simon Theatre New World Stages 250 West 52nd Street ON YOUR FEET! 340 West 55th Street THE FANTASTICKS THE STORY OF EMILIO AND Snapple Theater Center CHICAGO GLORIA ESTEFAN HIMSELF AND NORA 210 West 50th Street Ambassador Theatre Marquis Theatre Minetta Lane Theatre 219 West 49th Street 1535 Broadway 18 Minetta Lane THE JACKIE MASON MUSICAL St. Luke’s Theatre CIRQUE DU SOLEIL SCHOOL OF ROCK IT’S JUST SEX 308 West 46th Street PARAMOUR Winter Garden Theatre Actors Temple Theatre Lyric Theatre 1634 Broadway 339 West 47th Street THE LION, THE WITCH AND 214 West 43rd Street THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM SHE LOVES ME MONDAY NIGHT MAGIC Laura Pels Theatre DEAR EVAN HANSON Studio 54 Theatre 80 111 W 46th Street Belasco Theatre 254 West 54th Street 80 Saint Marks Place 111 West 44th Street THE MARVELOUS SHUFFLE ALONG, or THE MY BIG GAY ITALIAN FUNERAL WONDERETTES FIDDLER ON THE ROOF MAKING OF THE MUSICAL St. Luke’s Theatre Kirk Theatre Broadway Theatre SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL 308 West 46th Street 410 West 42nd Street 1681 Broadway THAT FOLLOWED Music Box Theatre MY BIG GAY ITALIAN WEDDING THE VERY HUNGRY FINDING NEVERLAND 239 West 45th Street St. Luke’s Theatre CATERPILLAR SHOW Lunt-Fontanne Theatre 308 West 46th Street Acorn Theatre 205 West 46th Street SOMETHING ROTTEN 410 West 42nd Street St. James Theatre MY SON THE WAITER: FUN HOME 246 West 44th Street A JEWISH TRAGEDY THE WONDERFUL WIZARD Circle in the Square Theatre Stage 72 at The Triad Theatre OF SONG: THE MUSIC OF West 50th Street THE BOOK OF MORMON 158 West 72nd Street HAROLD ARLEN Eugene O’Neil Theatre St. Luke’s Theatre HAMILTON 230 West 49th Street NAKED BOYS SINGING 308 West 46th Street Richard Rodgers Theatre Kirk Theatre 226 West 46th Stret THE CHERRY ORCHARD 410 West 42nd Street American Airlines Theatre HOLIDAY INN 227 West 42nd Street NEWSical Studio 54 Kirk Theatre 254 West 54th Street THE COLOR PURPLE 410 West 42nd Street Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre JERSEY BOYS 242 West 45th Street PERFECT CRIME August Wilson Theater Snapple Theatre Center 245 West 52nd Street THE CRUCIBLE 210 West 50th Street Walter Kerr Theatre KINKY BOOTS 219 West 48th Street RUTHLESS Al Hirshfi eld Theater St. Luke’s Theatre 203 West 45th Street (Continued on Page 38) 308 West 46th Street PAGE 38 • TAXI INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2016 IRS Scam someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what to do: Museums along Museum Mile (Continued from Page 27) El Museo del Barrio at 104th Street • If you believe you were the victim Museum of the City of New York at 103rd Street to resolve tax issues and never resort of a scam, report the incident to the Jewish Museum at 92nd Street to “shake-downs.” Treasury Inspector General for Tax Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design at 91st Street Watch for these signs of a scam: Administration (TIGTA) at 1-800-366- National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts at 89th Street • The caller demands immediate 4484 or online at www.tigta.gov. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum at 88th Street payment – the IRS will never call about • File a complaint using the FTC Metropolitan Museum of Art from 82nd to 86th Streets taxes owed without fi rst mailing you a Complaint Assistant: choose “Other” Goethe House German Cultural Center at 82nd Street bill and giving you the opportunity to and then “Imposter Scams”. Include question or appeal the amount the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in Other Museums • Require that you use a prepaid the notes. Or you can call the FTC at The Museum of American Finance, the nation’s only independent public ... debit card for your payment 1-877-FTC-HELP. Museum of American Finance, 48 Wall Street • Ask for credit or debit card num- • If you think you might owe taxes, African Burial Ground - corners of Duane and Elk Streets bers over the phone call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. American Folk Art Museum 45 W. 53rd St. • Threaten to have you arrested for Beware of any unsolicited email, American Museum of Natural History 77th St Central Park West non-payment of taxes text or other contact about your Children’s Museum of the Arts 250 Lafayette St # A, If you receive a phone call from taxes! Children’s Museum of the Arts Free Art Island Outpost Program at Governors Island Harbor Defense Museum - 230 Sheridan Loop, Brooklyn 5 Things to Know About Italian American Museum-155 Mulberry St Kehila Kedosha Jania Museum-280 Broome St Social Security Luxce Project 53 Stanton St When it comes to something as reduced by $5,000. If you make $20,000 The Morgan Library and Museum-225 Madison Ave. important as Social Security, it’s good over the limit, they would be reduced Museum of Chinese In America-211 Centre St to know you’re getting as much from by $10,000. Museum of Jewish Heritage- Holocaust it as possible. Here are fi ve things to The good news is that you don’t Edmond J. Safra Plaza - 36 Battery Place remember: permanently lose your benefi ts if they’re Museum at FIT-Seventh Ave. Your payments will be bigger if you reduced. Instead, your payment amount Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) 11 W 53rd St wait until your full retirement age. is recalculated so that you receive the Museum of Modern Art Design-81 Spring St # A You can start receiving Social Secu- withheld money once you’ve reached National Museum of the American Indian rity payments as soon as you turn 62, but full retirement age, notes the SSA. It’s Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, 1 Bowling Green your benefi ts may be reduced 20 to 30 another way working in retirement New Museum of Contemporary Art-235 Bowery percent, according to the United States may help stretch out your income over New World Art Ctr-250 Lafayette St # 5 Social Security Administration (SSA). time. New York City Police Museum-100 Old Slip That’s a lot, especially if you expect to Your payments won’t start auto- Poets House - Ten River Terrace spend many years in retirement. You matically. Queens Museum of Art-49th Ave. and 111th St. may want to think about working a bit When you’re ready to start receiving Rubin Museum of Art-150 West 17th Street longer or relying on your retirement sav- monthly benefi ts, you must apply for Skyscraper Museum - 39 Battery Place ings to help cover your living expenses them with the SSA. You can do that over South Street Seaport Museum - 12 Fulton Street until you can receive full benefi ts. the phone (1-800-772-1213), in person, The Tenement Museum-108 Orchard St What’s Your ‘full retirement or via the SSA’s online application. Whitney Museum of American Art-945 Madison Ave age?’ Your benefi ts could be taxed. This chart from the SSA lists the Some Social Security benefi ciaries full retirement age at which you may be end up paying taxes on their benefi ts, Broadway Shows entitled to receive full Social Security according to the SSA. It all depends retirement benefi ts. on the earnings listed on your income 1937 or earlier - 65 tax return. If you fi le with more than (Continued from Page 37) 1938 - 65 + 2 months $25,000 as an individual (or $32,000 THE CURIOUS INCIDENT 1939 - 65 + 4 months jointly), you’ll have to pay federal in- OF THE DOG IN THE LION KING 1940 - 65 + 6 months come taxes on your benefi ts, according 1941 - 65 + 8 months the SSA. The rules for state income THE NIGHT-TIME Minskoff Theatre 1942 - 65 + 10 months taxes vary from state to state. Ethel Barrymore Theatre 200 West 45th Street 1943-1954 - 66 Your payments can help your 243 West 47th Street 1955 - 66 + 2 months family. THE PHANTOM OF 1956 - 66 + 4 months Let’s say your monthly benefi ts turn THE ENCOUNTER THE OPERA 1957 - 66 + 6 months out to be more than your spouse’s. It’s a Golden Theatre Majestic Theatre 1958 - 66 + 8 months common scenario, especially in families 252 West 45th Street 242 West 45th Street 1959 - 66 + 10 months where one spouse paused their career to 1960 or later - 67 stay home with the kids. In cases like THE HUMANS THE PRICE You can work while getting Social this, the SSA says your spouse may Helen Hayes Theatre American Airlines Theatre Security. be eligible for an additional benefi t — 240 West 44th Street 227 West 42nd Street As long as you’re 62, you have up to one-half of your full retirement the option to take Social Security, amount. THE ILLUSTIONIST WAITRESS says the SSA. The SSA sets yearly After you die, your spouse will get Lunt-Fontanne Theatre Brooks Atkinson Theatre earnings limits — if you’re receiving your monthly benefi t check or hers — 205 West 46th Street 256 West 47th Steet Social Security benefi ts before your whichever is more. And if you have full retirement age and earn more than disabled children, kids under age 19, THE KING AND I WICKED the limit, your benefi t payments will or elderly parents who depend on you be temporarily lowered based on how for at least half their income, they could Lincoln Center Gershwin Theater much you earn. Say you earn $10,000 receive “survivor benefi ts,” according 70 Lincoln Center Plaza 222 West 51st Street over the limit. Your benefi ts would be to the SSA. SEPTEMBER 2016 • TAXI INSIDER • PAGE 39
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