A troubling series of deaths involving New York City yellow taxi drivers is drawing new attention to the demanding conditions faced by cabbies working long hours across the five boroughs.
Three taxi drivers have been found dead inside their yellow cabs since July, according to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Driver advocates say the incidents highlight concerns about long shifts, financial pressure and drivers putting their own health aside while trying to make a living.
New York City has decided to roll back a proposed regulation that would have required NYC Taxi and rideshare drivers to be insured by a “solvent and responsible” provider. The shift comes after Uber Technologies Inc. warned that the mandate could leave thousands of drivers without coverage.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which oversees for-hire vehicles in the city, has now adjusted the rule to require that insurance policies simply be “issued by companies authorized to do business” in New York state. This change removes the burden on vehicle owners to assess the financial stability of their insurance carriers, according to an updated version of the rule posted on the agency’s website.
Following the brutal killing of a passenger in a livery cab on Coney Island, NYC taxi drivers are demanding the right to lock their doors to protect themselves and their riders.
Michael Shelonchik, 53, was violently pulled from the back of a livery cab and beaten to death on Tuesday after two unidentified assailants opened the vehicle’s door and attacked him, according to police.
In response, the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers (NYSFTD) is calling for immediate policy changes, arguing that existing regulations put both drivers and passengers at unnecessary risk.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission recorded over 2,500 cellphones, wallets, purses and other items were accidentally left in taxi cabs last year alone. However, one thing that virtually never makes the list of items left behind is the ashes of a deceased person.
Family members and friends of a beloved New York City businessman reported the loss and ended up appreciating what happened. They called it a posthumous gift from their loved one, given in a way only he could.
“Absolutely humorous for dad’s ashes to go missing,” said the son of the deceased, who requested that his father’s identity not be revealed.
He bid up the price of medallions and borrowed against them. When their value plummeted, immigrant cabbies were left deep in debt.
Gene Freidman, a cabdriver’s son who schemed his way to become the nation’s biggest taxi mogul and came to personify both the inflated ascent of the industry in New York City and its crushing financial collapse, died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 50.
His death, in a Manhattan hospital, apparently from complications of a heart attack, was confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel funeral home.