A pair of City Council members introduced a bill that’s been deemed so racist that the NAACP showed up to testify against it.
Council members Ruben Diaz Sr. and Fernando Cabrera want to lower the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s mandatory fines issued to taxi drivers when they refuse to pick up passengers. The bill would lower the minimum fine for refusal from $200 to $100 and the maximum would decrease from $500 to $200.
TLC officials are staunchly against the bill, saying it’s clearly racist.
“It sends a message that discrimination isn’t an important issue,” Commissioner Meera Joshi told The Post after her testimony. “You see far too often that when someone refuses for destination, it’s a proxy for racial discrimination.”
Refusal complaints against taxi drivers have decreased in recent years, while those against black cars like Uber and Lyft have increased. In 2017, there were 1,834 complaints against taxi drivers, compared to 4,684 against them in 2015. But there was a 96 percent increase in complaints against black car drivers, with the number going from 175 in 2015 to 343 last year.
The refused passengers are often people of color, said Kristen Johnson of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
“For many black New Yorkers, being unable to hail a taxi has become a symbol of the frustration and indignity of prejudice and marginalization within one’s own city,” Johnson testified at a City Council hearing.
Diaz and Cabrera say they want the fines to be lowered to decrease the burden on taxi drivers who are suffering because of ride sharing.
“We need to level the playing field for taxi drivers,” said Diaz.