In 2006, when Richard Chow bought his taxi medallion from the city for $410,000, it seemed like a great idea. The value of medallions was rising steadily, and the Taxi and Limousine Commission was touting them as good long-term investments, so he took out a $358,200 loan. Then came the disruption — Uber, Lyft — and a collapse in the market in 2014. Chow, like thousands of other predominantly immigrant drivers, was left with a medallion he could only resell for perhaps a quarter of its former value, $389,000 in debt, and no hope of retiring.
The Tesla Model 3 is the first electric vehicle approved as a yellow cab in New York City, and the first one has hit the road.
In October 2019, Electrek was first to report that the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which oversees the city’s fleet of yellow cabs, has approved the Tesla Model 3 as the first electric vehicle to be eligible to become a yellow cab in New York City.
The state’s attorney general is seeking $810 million from the city to compensate financially struggling taxi medallion owners.
New York State’s attorney general has accused New York City of committing fraud by significantly inflating the value of yellow taxi medallions and demanded $810 million from the city to compensate the thousands of cabdrivers who are now saddled with debt.
The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission marketed the medallions — city-issued permits required to own a yellow cab — as “a solid investment with steady growth” and reaped a profit from the sale of thousands of them at artificially high prices over a 14-year period, from 2004 to 2017, according to an investigation by the attorney general’s office.
The attorney general, Letitia A. James, formally notified city officials on Thursday that she planned to sue the city for fraud, unlawful profit and other violations of state law within 30 days unless the city agreed to provide financial relief to the cash strapped taxi medallion owners.
Officials at the Taxi and Limousine Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ada Robinson, 37, originally from Hong Kong attempts to hail a taxi. Stephen Yang
Fear of catching the coronavirus has some cabbies and ride-share drivers discriminating against customers.
“I feel bad about it, but when I see Chinese passengers, I just go,” one cab driver — who asked that his name be withheld, lest his hack license get suspended — told The Post. “I don’t pick up anyone Chinese. I’m scared. I don’t want to get the disease.”
