Mayor de Blasio took office describing a “Tale of Two New Yorks”: a privileged, wealthy, largely white and Manhattan-centric city that had thrived in recent years vs. a less-well-off, more-minority-heavy outer-borough population — of which he saw himsel🐻f (and his multi-racial family) as the champion.
So how tragically ironic that in supporting legislation before the City Council this Thursday, the progressive mayor is co💧ming down firmly on the side of the connected Manhattan-centric class at the expense of the “other New York.”
ಌThe legislation — a moratorium on the growth of Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing services under the subterfuge that these services contribute to traffic congestion — is an orchestrated takedown by an administration and council beholden to the financial largesse of the yellow-cab fleets.
Last week, it came to light that f𓆏leet owners donated $27,000 to Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito; that’s on top of the $525,000𝔉 the mayor himself has received over the years.
When “yellow” and “green” intersect, it seems all other colors ge🐠t sold out.
To call a spad🤪e a spade: New York’s yellow-cab service is a decades-long government-approved monopoly operating a system that discriminates against outer-borough/upper Manhattan communities of color.
This monopoly allows fleet owners to have their cake and eat it: Owners become wealthy via a law allowing them exclusive rights to pick up street hails.
To guard the value of their medallions, they make sure that the Taxi and Limousine Commission ruthlessly enforces a ban of any other car services picking up street hails (partic🌠ularly south of, say, 96th Street).
Conversely, historically, when communities in the outer boroughs and in upper Manhattan compla🌸ined that yellow cabs were nowhere to be found in their neighborhoods, the same owners demanding mo🍨nopoly protection suddenly claim free-market “yellow-cab privilege.”
“We’re not in those neighborhoods,” they’ll say, “because, well, there aren’t enough fares around there.” So they stay where fares are densest — Midtown, of course, and 🐎out by th🐻e airports.
Individuals living in other ’hoods had to make do with call-in car service or engage in a technically illegal act — grabbing a livery cab on the street. Not until the introducti𒆙on of the “green” Boro taxi program in 2013 — an innovation fought tooth and nail by the fleets — ꩵwas there even slight relief.
The geographical discrimination morphed into regular episodes of individual discrimination. As just about any minority professional can attest, it’s particularly frustrating because the discrimination isn’t purely racial: Dressed𝐆 in a suit — aka “taxicab opportunity enhancement device” — I can probably hail a cab (except at 5 p.m., when no one can).
But in weekend attire, like the white frat boy across the street (baseball cap and jean🐓s)? Forget it.
In any event, the cabby could manage eit🌺her to “not see” a fare he believes to be heading to deep Brooklyn or The Bronx — or suddenly realize he’s “heading home” or “needs to fill the gas tank.”
Indeed, a rare 🎶time Ru💦dy Giuliani was applauded by black New Yorkers (pre-9/11) followed an incident involving Danny Glover and his daughter not being able to get a cab — Giuliani directed the
TLC to initiate stings to ide♏ntify cabbies refusing service to black customers.
Drivers were♏ on their toes ওfor a while before things returned to the (discriminatory) norm.
Then, a few years ago, some real change: Outer-borough peop🦂le had another option allowing them to avoid the indignities and humiliations of yellow cabs — in the palms of their hands.
Uber, Lyft et al would pick us up and take us home — regardless of our addresses! Sure, aspects ꦗof Uber’s business model take some getting used to — like surge pricing. But, hey, if you lived in the outer boroughs, you were paying more for car service anyway.
And now, all that seems endangered: A “progressive” mayor and City Coun🍃cil claiming to represent people of color seems ready to put the brakes on an innovation that’s largely helping individuals of those very communi♊ties — both the riders who use the apps and the thousands of drivers who have opted for a better deal than they get leasing a yellow cab.
Uber has even reached out to Al Sharpton, no stranger to outer-borough transportation issues intersecting with politics.
Politicians t🅷aking jobs and services from the people in favor of the moneyed classes? That can be called many things. “Progressive” isn’t one of them.