NY House Dems call on city to bail out thousands of cab drivers suffering because of taxi medallion ‘crisis’

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Mouhamadou Aliyu with his cab on Thursday. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

With thousands of struggling New York City yellow cab drivers like Mouhamadou Aliyu desperate for a bailout, elected officials on Thursday quarreled over who should pay for it.

Aliyu, 47, emigrated from the Ivory Coast to New York in 1994 in hope of a better life. Now, thanks to plummeting yellow cab medallion values and predatory lending practices, he’s $700,000 in debt and often considers killing himself.

“I’m under water. I can barely survive,” said Aliyu, who bought a taxi medallion for $370,000 in 2004. “We are asking for relief because we really have nothing to do with all this suffering, but we’re the ones who are paying the price.”

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‘Cash Cab’ is filming in NYC again this summer, with a pop culture twist

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Cash Cab” host, Ben Bailey, drives his cab around the Upper East Side

This commute comes with a (potential) cash payout.

Ben Bailey’s “Cash Cab” is set to begin filming in Manhattan again this summer, this time under a new network.

The taxi cab game show has been acquired by Bravo, after airing two revived seasons on Discovery, the network confirmed. The 11th season was its last on Discovery.

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Notorious Debt Collector in Taxi Industry Is Arrested

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Several weeks after a New York Times investigation into the taxi trade, the New York City sheriff’s office arrested an industry leader for impersonating a city marshal

Anthony J. Medina, who was charged with pretending to be a city law enforcement official to intimidate yellow cabdrivers, was arrested after an investigation in The New York Times.

In the rough-and-tumble New York City taxi industry, Anthony J. Medina was an enforcer.

For years, Mr. Medina was the go-to debt collector for banks that lent money to drivers seeking to buy a permit to own a cab. If a driver fell behind on payments, it was Mr. Medina’s job to ensure the driver paid up. Sometimes, he temporarily seized the car. Other times, he confronted people on the street. Occasionally, drivers said, he flashed a gun.

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Yellow Cab$ in NYC – December

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I would like to write an article about cab driving in NYC, but I tell you “I can’t” ! I’m so tired and exhausted, working 6 days a week. What about you, I know you have something to share? Anyway I do have so many topics and little by little I will share it! Here is one; PLEASE, be careful when you drop of your passenger/s; always warn them when open the door, because bicyclist, skateboarders are everywhere, many are electric powered and so silent and of course speedy! 

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