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Subscribe to RSSNew York City's plan to expand taxi service outside Manhattan is unconstitutional, a judge ruled Friday in a decision that could leave the city with a $1.46 billion hole in its budget.
Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that the plan violates the state constitution's "home rule" provisions, which protect cities from undue interference by state legislators. The taxi plan was enacted by the state Legislature after a failed attempt to get it through the City Council.
City lawyers said they would immediately appeal the ruling, which could leave officials scrambling to remake this year's budget. Officials have said 2,000 yellow-cab medallion sales included in the plan would earn the city $635 million this fiscal year and $825 million more over the following two years.
The plan, put temporarily on hold in June after owners of the city's signature yellow cabs sued, would let the city sell 18,000 permits allowing livery cabs to pick up passengers who hail them on streets in upper Manhattan and the other boroughs. Currently, only yellow cabs can do that.
City Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky said officials owe it to New Yorkers to appeal.
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"The court's decision today is a great loss to millions of New Yorkers outside of Manhattan, as well as for the professional livery drivers whose ability to feed their families by providing a popular service their communities want and deserve is now in jeopardy," he said in a statement.
The Greater New York Taxi Association called the ruling "a win for democracy, due process of law and the right of New Yorkers to decide how their own city works." The group said in a statement it would work with city officials "to address these issues."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the plan would make travel safer, easier and cheaper for millions of people and provide the city a much needed cash infusion in tight budget times. Yellow cab owners have argued it would cut their business.
Under the plan, the livery cab "street hail" permits would initially be sold by the city for $1,500; taxi medallions have gone for as much as $1 million on the open market. The 2,000 new yellow cab medallions would have been restricted to vehicles that are wheelchair-accessible.
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After negotiations over the outer-borough taxi issue stalled in the City Council, Bloomberg took it to Albany, saying it was a goal that had eluded the city for three decades and would expand cab service in areas that are home to 7 million people. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature reached a deal on it in December.
The Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade sued in April, on the eve of a city Taxi and Limousine Commission vote to put the proposal into action. The commission voted to approve the plan anyway.
As the suit was filed, the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade's president, Ron Sherman, called the plan "unconstitutional, irresponsible and unconscionable."
Yellow cab owners "are overwhelmed with anxiety, grief and worry over their future as a result of this devastating law, which will completely undermine their livelihood and lifetime investment," said Sherman, whose group represents the owners of 4,000 cabs leased to 16,000 drivers.
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City lawyers said they were confident that the plan met legal requirements.
"A great deal of careful thought and consideration went into the adoption of this important new transportation initiative," city Law Department attorney Ave Maria Brennan said in April.
At a May hearing, Engoron mentioned that he's a former cabbie himself. He drove a yellow taxi for about a year while he was a Columbia University undergraduate in the 1960s.
The proposal would have let 18,000 livery drivers buy permits to pick up street hails above 96th Street in Manhattan and throughout the four other boroughs, but not at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.
City officials said the medallion sales would generate $1.46 billion for the city, estimating each would sell for an average of $730,000 at auctions staggered over three years to keep from flooding the market. The taxi group's lawyer has said the influx of new medallions still would drive down the price below the city's estimate.
Some $635 million of the expected medallion money is built into the budget the city approved at the end of June. If it becomes clear the $635 million in sales won't happen before June 30, 2013, the city will have to make cuts or find other money to make up for it.
The city routinely adjusts its budget plan several times throughout the year to reflect changes in its finances.
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I am the King of New york..all bow before me........
The whole thing is a bunch of BS, what happened to free enterprise, who the hell died and made these people GOD. I bet these people are making a lot of money restricting and creating this monopoly.
Medallion Owners are NOT some small business people, the over all vast majority of them own numerous medallions which they lease to taxi companies. The guy who is driving the taxi does not typically own the car or the medallion, they rent the car from a taxi company. The taxi companies want rates driven up as high as possible so they can charge the drivers more rent, the driver gets very little of any increases.
I have always thought there should be a program to encourage drivers to buy their own medallions and cars that thy drive themselves a in of 1/3 of the time. Let them truly build a business, the cost of a medallion needs to comedown. When these medallion investors bought them, they were not guaranteed a permanent value for them. THe current system lets the drivers and the riders get screwed. The vast majority of the city has no taxis at all. Airports, Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan are the only areas with any level of service.
Get the big money out of the business, this failed in city council because the fleet owners have the cash to make sure they get the votes they want.
It seems like all this is about is money. The yellow cabs don't want the increased competition because it will drive down prices, the government wants to sell more medallions cause it makes them more money. What about the consumer?
The cab driver leases the car from the owner of the medallion. That owner is going to get THAT money no matter how little or how much that driver makes during his shift. The owner is guaranteed to make money that day. The driver is NOT!!!!!!!
Since when is the government responsible for promoting and maintaining the value of medallions for private investors? The driver sees none of this profit.
@Frankly True
You forgot to mention that the medallions can cost as much as a million bucks apiece. Yeah, no joke, $1,000,000. The average cost is over 700k.
The taxi cab was once the epitome of entrepreneurship, now, in most places, it is just a massive revenue source for major cities and big businesses. One of the last bastions is DC where an honest man can make an honest living with a taxi-cab but the @!$%# politicians there are trying to do away with that now too. Government is out of control at every level and we wonder why our economy is in the toilet.
This medallion system smells a lot like government rationing to me. Why can't we just let the market determine how many cabs are run, and let competition amongst competing owner operators set the fees?
No, that would not allow some well connected big boys to buy up the limited medallions with free cash flow from some other endeavor and then lease cabs with medallions to people that have to work even harder and longer to be able to pay the inflated lease fees due to the medallion based system.
Welcome to Cuba. Welcome to socialism. Maybe we should have an economic boycott against NY City since they are looking more and more like Cuba?
The GOP will say they're against regulations but they're only against certain regulations. And this is one they like. The medallion system is one that protects big money interests from the competition of a free market. You have to pay to play and even if you can get the million plus that a medallion costs you have to find one that's for sale. If you own a medallion and lease a car to drivers you can make over 300 grand a year from 3 shifts a day 7 days a week and you don't even need to ever set foot in that cab. This system is like if your town only allowed 2 gas stations in town ever just two. They could set their price as high as they wanted because there is no competition. it's unamerican and this is the system that most cities and towns use it's not just NYC. Everyone who meets the safety and licensing regulations should be able to get a medallion there should not be a limited amount that prices everyone but the rich out of the opportunity to own their own business.
@zuksam
Please provide just one quote from anyone who said they're "against regulation". No one wants zero regulation so obviously no one is going to be against everything.
NYC is one of the most liberal cities in the US so to suggest this is some republican scheme is ludicrous. Please try to remember that it is government that makes these regulations as a means to fund more government. Blaming "big money" for taking advantage of a system put in place by politicians for their own advantage makes no sense.
It does when big money owns the politicians that put the system in place....furthermore this happens all the time...ever heard of lobbyists?...can you afford your own personal lobbyist to influence an official...?...probably not but big business and the rich can.....welcome to america bought and paid for by walmart, conagra, proctor &gamble, citizen's united etc. and NYC as a whole isn't nearly as liberal as outsiders would think....I live here and I'm from the rural south I know liberalism and conservatism...you would be surprised at the number of ron paul bumper stickers here in this city
@Andrae Bookervia Facebook
Newsflash- Politicians are ELECTED officials, so who's really to blame? Maybe people should stop electing crooks if they don't want crooks to run their lives. Unfortunately the red and blue sheep that populate our country won't vote for anyone that doesn't have an "R" or "D" after their name.
Hard to bitch about getting what you've asked for.
OMG this Bloomburg guy makes stupid people look more like Einstein. Can he do any good at all? How did he fool my city brethren into electing his chump a$$?
translation;
we found a new way to make more money..........
Bingo!
I can't wait until the government completely takes over everything, and we all have to pay the bureaucracy a license for all activities. Thank God, nanny government can regulate all commercial activity for "our own good." The amazing process whereby we have tremendous technological development that improves efficiency and lowers cost and yet the price never drops because of taxes and bureaucratic interference is alive and well.
believesinmarkets; you missed the mark, THEY have ALREADY, TAKEN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING; YOUR HOME IS SUBJECT TO SEIZURE, IF THEY CAN FIND A BETTER USE FOR IT, OAMACARE, CAN DEDUCT, WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE,from your bank accounts , they can enter your home on mere suspicion without a warrant, they can tell you home much water, electricity you may use, what size soft drinks you can purchase, and if you want to go fishing, they will charge you a fee, and tell you what size and amount of fish you can catch; they now control your life from birth to death. 1984, just took a little longer!
@saxon: you forgot "tell you to whom you can and can't get married" and also "prevent you from managing your vajina and womanhood." oh and also, "limit or inhibit those who can vote with expanded access/hours based on which party 'owns' your county despite your affiliation (or for any other arbitrary reason/factor) in order to protect against self-confessed non-existent/substantiated voter fraud." how can we forget "being detained/pulled over/questioned of your citizenship for appearing to be of a race and/or ethnicity that is the target of an undocumented worker/resident crackdown."
So very true , and as long as the there are people who treat their poltical partys as if they are a religion it will continue.
Yeah and you forgot another important one. The president can decide to exterminate an American citizens if he considers them to be a threat to America without due process. No arrest, no trial, just convicted by the power to be and the blown to kingdon come. Today they look at a national threat tomorrow it may be a political enemy.
commonsense53... I don't know what you're smoking but it's making you extremely paranoid. BTW, "common sense" is the most un-common thing on this planet.
"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18." Albert Einstein
Ohh theres quite a few more. If you leave any accounts or 401k, stocks inactive for more than 3yrs, the gov has the legal right to seize that asset and no worries they will do it..
The article is perfect too. Note how the concerns of the yellow cab monopoly and the amount of money the government can collect are the two primary issues. There is no concern for actual consumers and the value they get for the service for which they will pay.
kudos....you got it....you may have a cookie......:)
While I commend your collegial attitudes, I am sure the issues of how this outcome may impact the consumers was mentioned. I admit that the story seems a bit "tail wagging the dog" oriented, but the story is really about a judge ruling on a decision that violates the New York state constitution. But of course, the story being about New York has to involve crooked politicians and sleazy "sweetheart" deals". How New York ever got the reputation for being good at anything is beyond me. Maybe I've misread the comment "...if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere..." actually means things are so screwed up in New York if you can make it in New York you should have your name tag changed to Hercules.
How could it possibly hurt the consumer for there to be more taxis?
those poor cabby's, they cant afford this, hell most of them cant afford deodorant or the price of a shower as it is..........:)
or speak english
here's an simple idea bloomberg, you need more money?.. no problem... just tax corruption,... think how much money places like NYC, L.A., Chicago, and Washington D.C. would rake in, the amounts would be almost inconceivably staggering............:)
New Orleans is one of the most corrupt and Crime ridden cities in the US. YOur Murder rate is 5X that of NY, your Rape rate is twice that (Based on Pop)
Your politicians go to jail for corruption at a very high rate.
Your police dept is under a federal corruption agreement (Written just 3 weeks ago) for the pervasive corruption in the dept.
And you have the audacity to attack other cities. Clean yours up first.
Sure NYC is not as bad as New Orleans but I can't say I was happy being frisked and searched when I visited NYC. My crime was that I went to visit a BLACK friend from high school and we decided to walk to the corner store for a 44oz soda . And as everybody knows when you see black and white together there must have be a crime committed some where.
I am trying to get him out of Gotham City , I think it will save his life . Its too much like a police state with trigger happy cops who have no respect the constitution
@Frankly True
Ummm, last time I checked New Orleans was NOT in Iowa. Now I don't know if the "IA" in his screen name actually refers to Iowa but I am fairly certain that it isn't a reference to Louisiana
there was a poster that went by... LA ScooterTramp...SHE WAS COOL...
Obvious: the last time I willingly visited the city was in '02 - there were NYPD recruitment ads all over the place. At the time it seemed like a harmless kneejerk reaction, but I always knew in the back of my mind there would be more trouble with the police down there.
This article is so full of BS and lie's, I'm surprised the NSA hasn't stepped in with a "Total Crap, Level 10 Warning". "This will be so better for the residents and cabbies", STFU! All the $hitty city wants is a bigger revenue stream coming in so that the paid thieves and the rest of the mob can scrape off more of a cut to line their pockets with.
Another hiden tax!! This time it's the taxi driver forced to earn less so the Bloomingbergs police state fiefdom can haul in more cash to redistribute to his friends and associates. The real answer to NYC's fiscal problems is proper fiscal management. A good place to start is the dismantling of the whole post 9/11 militarized/big brother system he's put in place. Taxpayer dollars would be better spent on commuity policing where local law enforcement walks the beat once again and gets to know those they serve on a firsthand and personal basis, not buying military hardware that is later used against unarmed demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights of assembly, freedom of speech, and the right to seek readdress of greviences.
The big brother system is everywhere, not just in NYC. And you have obviously never spent a good deal of time in the city there are plenty of cops walking the beat. On the street and on the subways. They are very friendly and very obliging when you ask them for any kind of help.
Nick,
You know why that is? The Patriot Act. Because of our over reaction to 9/11. Sure we should have attacked someone, but it should have been targeted attacks on known Terrorist hideouts, much like Obama is doing now with drone strikes. Sure we should have increased security but only to the point where the FAA and immigration all had FBI/CIA created and vetted watch lists instead of their own that may or may not have had the people the FBI were watching on them. But the whole "give the Government the power to protect us by any means necessary" bit that came in the form of the Patriot Act was too much. We did this; not Obama, not Bush, we did by not forcing our politicians either not to sign it in the first place or not to reaffirm it a couple of years ago.
Anyone that voted for or thought that the Patriot Act was a good idea is responsible and that does include the a fore mentioned Presidents however they are not the reason the legislation came into being, that was because of our, the citizenry's, over reaction.
What a crock.
They've already started depending on the use of the money before it's enacted.
What the hell is up with that? If they don't get it they are already short 635 million?
These guys are out of control. They thought they had another cash cow to milk.
How about living within the budget you have?
How about stop giving tax money away in programs for people that have no right to it?
Now what happens for wheelchair bound people. I was never a fan of a special dispatch system but at least it provided a way to get transportation. Now another lawsuit is going to happen regarding ADA compliance.
tax kickbacks, political donations and the atheists who worship Bloomberg.
Someone mentioned how this article really didn't discuss how riders are really affected and the state of taxi service in NYC. It is true that except for Manhattan (non-Harlem) and Downtown Brooklyn- taxis basically do not exist. I have even had cabs deny me a ride to Brooklyn (illegal). Something does need to be done about this... but it is probably not an issue that warrants attention in the national media, just as this facet of really doesn't.
Saxon they can enter your home on mere suspicion without a warrant. Sorry Saxon, that came under King George and Dick Cheney.
No NO No , I've been told to many time that Obama shoved the Patriot act on us along with DHS and TSA . Its part of HIS commie plan to become a King over and remake the US as a republic . We got rid of the USSR now we have become the URSA . The United Republican States of America
Obama is a piece and he is unbelievably more corrupt than Bush was.
Gotta love a government that favors one company and squashes an individual's right to work.
When a government acts in such a manner it is called National Socialism. It is the form of socialism that was practiced by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany. It is a socialism where the government understands the fact that companies/corporations are actually needed to conduct an economy. And since all bureaucracies i.e. governments are inherently corrupt "national socialism" allows the government to pick which company they will allow to monopolize the industry. And for allowing to be able to do so the companies selected always give "kickbacks" to the elected officials. Usually these kickbacks come in the form of campaign contributions or insider information on the markets etc.
New York.....New York!
Something that bloomberg wants ruled unconstitutional? Gee, what a surprise...
I am so sick of Mayor Bloomberg - first he tries telling New Yorkers how much soda they can drink, now he is trying to circumvent the city council.
Bloomberg, you're mayor, not emperor - glad the New York courts gave you the smack down you deserves!
Just wait....Bloomberg has much more up his sleeve. Possibly a run for senate or the oval office. You think things are bad now....Yes drinking a 44 ounce sugared soda probably isn't the wisest health choice that someone can make. The key word is choice. Take that away, what have you got left? I drink diet drinks, even though the dentist says those even aren't good for my teeth. I buy the 44 ounce and put it in the refrigerator and drink off of it all day long. That should be my right. Someone like Bloomberg should not be allowed to take that away. I live in the Midwest. But everyone can see that he needs to be stopped.
nanny bloomberg is trying to one up obama on the city level. Vote both of them out.
Let nanny bloomberg make up the $$$ out of his own pocket. No wonder I have no desire to go to NYC.
Here's a suggestion. Since the taxi companies want to protect their government granted monopoly profits by preventing expansion of service and the revenue to the city, why not tax the profits from yellow medallion taxi business to make up most of the difference. Since rates are regulated, the yellow taxis could not make up the difference by passing it on to passengers. This suggestion would make the choice clear. Either allow the livery cabs in the outer boroughs to pick up passengers and the city to generate revenue from sale of medallions, or give up the government protected profits you are getting under the current system to make up the shortfall.
As a retired Chicago cab driver with 23 years of experience, I can tell you all that the problem with cab driving is the prohibitively high cost of ops (what the driver gets charged to drive the cab). I drove 12 hour days and often went home with far less than the cab company got, thanks to the high ops. The cab companies get rich while the drivers slave away for low wages. Yes, it's a lifestyle more than a job, and it's great meeting thousands of interesting strangers, but it's not fair to the drivers to keep them broke by taking so much of the cash that they generate. This is a common problem in all American cities, some are worse than others, and I suspect New York is near the top of the list for gouging the drivers.
Well, how else are New Yorkers going to be able to get a Big Gulp with (Gasp!) sugar in it at a reasonable price? Tsar Bloombergowich would have his peons pay through the nose to get what they want, and at the same time destroy the taxi business owners who support Romney and not Obama.
It's all about the end of democracy and the installation of Democratic hegemony, taking everything from the creators of wealth in order to bribe voters to keep them - the "Democrats" - in power.
When it comes to GOVERNMENT SPENDING why does the POLITICANS ALWAYS TALK ABOUT GENERATING instead of CUTTING, ECONOMIZING, ELIMINATING- Uhmmm being able to generate $1.Billion Dollars would be so great for the City-MORE DOLLARS TO SPEND-More PAY RAISES, MORE ENTITLEMENTS and oh YEA lets not forget more opportunity to expand Government! How great- How absolutely Great!
If my math is correct, the average amount a taxi earns per year is $317,500 ?
Not knowing the actual mileage driven it is hard to be critical but one can bet the driver makes nowhere near that amount annually. Seems like a bit of price gouging going on in the Big Apple. (And elsewhere I am sure)
Hmm i thought the medallion system in new york was a monopoly, not free market capitalism at work, but maybe i dont have enough knowledge on the subject to know for sure.
jonashad;
Me thinks you have that remark bakwards my friend.
One could just as easily remark the 'creators of wealth' are taking everything from us to keep the republicans in power - to keep them in power..
And without us peons they would not be creators of wealth.
The circle is big. It just depends on which way you feel the need to point your marker.