Green All-Borough Taxis Slow to Hit Uptown Streets

New green all-borough taxis are taking a while to make their presence felt on uptown streets.

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By Rishi Iyengar

It has been nearly a month since all-borough taxis began to appear on the streets of uptown Manhattan and the outer boroughs, but delayed equipment installation, confused drivers and apprehensive passengers have slowed the new cabs’ introduction.

The process of fitting the lime-green taxis with meters, roof signs and credit card machines seems the primary reason for the delay.

Lynette Diaz of Inwood’s First Class Car and Limo Service says that although a number of the company’s 200 drivers have gotten their street hail livery licenses, preparing their cars will probably take until late September. “All of them are in the process of getting their meters and stuff fitted,” she says.

The new taxis were introduced on August 9 after the State Court of Appeals upheld Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to expand street hail service. As a result, the livery cabs that service uptown Manhattan via phone calls can now apply for licenses allowing them to pick up passengers just like their yellow counterparts.

“Now it’s legal, it’s safe, it’s the same caliber service that’s available in midtown Manhattan,” taxi Commissioner David Yassky told WNYC in June, after the favorable court ruling.

The only restriction on the green cabs is within Manhattan, where they can legally accept street hails only above East 96th or West 110th Street. Yassky called midtown and downtown Manhattan “the forbidden zone”.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission will issue 6,000 of the street hail livery licenses annually for the next three years, a total of 18,000 by 2015, its website said. TLC officials did not respond to the Uptowner’s questions about the number of green cabs currently on the streets.

Lakbir Singh made the switch from a livery cab to an all-borough taxi in late August after receiving the license he applied for in July. Asked why he chose green over yellow, Singh says he had to pay only $1500 for an SHL permit instead of the $1 million that yellow-cab medallions cost. The new street hail law enables him to pick up more customers without having to face long waits between calls.

But in spite of picking up 175 passengers in his first 10 days, he encountered many who won’t get into his car. “Many people are refusing because they don’t know that this is the same as a yellow cab,” he says. “Even if I explain, they don’t believe me.”

Drivers of traditional yellow taxis seem to be taking advantage of this lack of customer awareness. Singh says one even poached a customer. “He drove up behind me and said this is not legal, even though he knew it was,” Singh says.

With few yellow cabs venturing uptown, green all-borough cabs will eventually become a more common sight. (Photo by Rishi Iyengar)

With few yellow cabs venturing uptown, green all-borough cabs will eventually become a more common sight. (Photo by Rishi Iyengar)

Sure enough, yellow taxi drivers like Alcides Bautista are wary of their lime-green counterparts, though their territories don’t really overlap. “It’s all competition, even though they’re in the outer boroughs,” says Bautista, who has driven a yellow cab for 28 years.

He hasn’t encountered many on the streets. “Not yet,” Bautista acknowledges. “I’ve seen a few but they’re just starting out.”

Belle Sanchez, a Bronx entrepreneur who grew up in Inwood, says standard taxis don’t want to travel uptown. “Yellow cabs don’t know upper Manhattan,” she says. “They’re not comfortable in this area.”

At First Class, where about a third of drivers will soon drive all-borough taxis, Diaz believes that livery cabs better suit Inwood residents.

“Everyone uptown calls; there’s bases every few blocks,” she says. “Spanish people like the convenience of picking up the phone,” she adds, referring to the heavily Dominican neighborhood.

Sanchez, for one, does prefer to book cabs over the phone, especially when she’s sending one of her three children somewhere unaccompanied. The drivers “come to the door, pick my kid up, give me their number and name. I feel safe,” she says. She is, however, vaguely aware of the advent of all-borough taxis.

Ricardo Ramon, owner of El Sol De Dios Communications in Inwood, is still awaiting a TLC license to install meters and computer systems in green cabs.  Passengers aren’t the only ones wary of the ruling, he says.

“Right now there’s not a big rush, because the drivers are scared of the new law,” he says, explaining that some drivers remain unsure what they can and can’t do.

In the meantime, Ramon is undertaking the tasks he can — painting black livery taxis lime-green and installing roof signs, radios and interior cameras.

Supporters of the street-hail livery program maintain that things will start looking up once more green cabs get onto the streets.

With summer ending and a slow but steady stream of new green taxis hitting the streets, Singh says people will start recognizing the green cars as legal and legitimate and his business will improve.

Diaz also sounds optimistic. “It’s going to be better for the passenger, for the community and it’ll ultimately be better for business as well,” she says.

 

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