New York City Taxis

Thank Heaven for the Taxi’s of NYC. We were a party of four and did our best to accommodate the taxi drivers as well as ourselves. We stayed in Time Square on 45^th, and that is not a good place to get picked up or dropped off by the Taxi. This street is stopped and jammed up 24 hours a day. We would walk up a block of two to 6^th Avenue or 5^th Avenue and were able to easily catch a cab, We had no issues hailing a cab, it was always very easy with little wait. We were also happy to get out to the cab on 6^th to avoid the traffic jam that is 45^th. Of course knowing that the cabs number is lit when available and dark when the meter is on is an invaluable piece of information. We were treated well and respectfully by all of the taxi drivers in the 4 days in NYC. We arrived at JFK and the driver taking us to our hotel was so informative and helpful it was a wonderful start to our trip. NYC Taxis, are wonderful, drivers great and they all had GPS if an address was unfamiliar.

I have had some horrible experiences with NYC taxi drivers while going from LaGuardia airport to Astoria. The drivers, who look Middle Eastern, seem to be angry that they are not going to get a $ 50 fare to Manhattan and they make sure I know it. They are derogatory and verbally abusive. I only go to NYC bcause I have family there. I’d like to tell them to knock it off or go back to your country of origin, where it’s apparently okay to treat women badly.

Although we use the subway mostly the few trips we’ve taken in yellow cabs has been great. Friendly drivers and clean cars that smell fine !

We walked pen station and realized we had a 40 min wait. I had work the next day, the train was a 40 min wait so we decided to take a cab. The YELLOW cab company out front determined it would be $ 65 in which we agreed to pay. I’m 35 my husband im 42, clearly not kids. We drove 5 blocks in the cab as we were asked If we would pay cash or credit. We said either or. He then demanded the money upfront. I said I’ll pay you upon arrive As I tried to photograph his id# he turned the inside light in to block it knowing he was wrong. I did get it in video and photo of his plate. I even called 311 and planned a hearing. jerks

I took New York yellow cab for the first time but it was the worst. We took a taxi from LaGuardia Airport .I wanted to go to the nearby metro station but the driver angry to hear it. I never use NY City Taxi.

I was only in nyc for two days but can’t believe the number of times I had to get in a cab to get from point a to b since I’m so used to the idea of driving everywhere. All the cabs I rode in were fairly in good order. I only had one really chatty driver but he was fairly entertaining with his stories from Bangladesh. NYC cab driver are some of the most defensive drivers I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how they do it or where they learn to drive like that but all very impressive. Hailing a cab was fairly easy but usually had the door man do it.

Lime green cab from Astoria to dinner in the city. Clean and warmest cab ever in a cold New Year’s Day! Arrived safely and quickly
See– there are good cabbies. !
No smell
No chit chatting
And it’s clean

Why don’t yellow taxis in NYC stop for me? I ain’t Danny Glover. Why am I being told by NYC yellow taxi drivers that they don’t go to Brooklyn? Is Brooklyn no longer a part of NYC?! Why then, are my blonde and blue eyed bruthas and sistas able to hail NYC yellow taxis to Brooklyn without incident??? On the rare occasion when they do stop, why am I being told by NYC yellow taxi drivers, that I need to pay my fare in cash when their credit card machines are clearly in perfect working order? How many times am I going to hear,
«I just start driving cab today. I don’t know streets yet,»
before being driven the long way home and grossly overcharged? Who regulates these a**hol*s and why haven’t they been fired??? NYC yellow taxi drivers are thee worst at what they do. The time for change is now.

I’m sitting in this god forsaken taxi. It’s 90 degrees out side and these aszh0les decided to change there AC’s. Before at least you could control it. Now it’s a pathetic garden hose that sputters out Luke warm air. And the wonder why they are losing to Über. God I hate NYC taxis.

My job requires me to take cab rides sometimes so as a result I often find myself sitting in the back of the yellow taxis. Sometimes I luck out and get a nice cab driver and everything goes smoothly, but there were plenty of times where I have encountered terrible service. I don’t let it bother me but there were 2 times where I have gotten practically kicked out of the cab cause they’re rushing. So rude! I also always tip them but when instances like that happens I don’t so I get even more attitude from them. It gets me from point A to point B so kudos for that. And is it me or does it seem like they don’t like it when I ask for a receipt so I can show it to my boss?

Take Über instead. Rides are cheaper than taxi (use code Uber10offSJ for $ 20 off) and driver arrives within 5 minutes!

No. Just no.

F U new york taxis!
I Flag about 40 of you down to no avail? Whatever download UBER app problem solved!
1 extra star for the only nice cab driver I did encounter!
DOWNLOAD UBER NEW YORKERS!
Or stick to the subways put an end to these asses.

Afzal in cab 1a99 deserves «Driver of the Day» kudos.
We were cruising through midtown en route to a meeting, and we got into a narrow stretch wedged in between big unloading semi trailers.
Suddenly Afzal jammed the brakes. Thank G*d he did. From behind a huge trailer — in a totally blind spot far away from the crosswalk, in the middle of a block — a crazy father shot into the road, appearing suddenly, pushing a stroller with his baby in it in front of him. HE WAS PUSHING HIS CHILD RIGHT OUT INTO THE MOVING TRAFFIC! Zero hesitation. Not even looking at the oncoming traffic. It was insane. I’d say that given this father’s lunacy, the odds of any normal car hitting his child was about 99%. But Afzal has skillz. He saw it in time and hit the brakes. The car rocked to a halt. The father and his wife moved across the road not even glancing in our direction. I complimented Afzal. He shook his head and said something interesting: «that’s why I drive with both feet, in this city.» I’d never thought of that. I always flip my one right foot between accelerator and brake. But Afzal has his left foot hovering over the brake at all times. And I’m glad he does. (And that unthinking father is glad, too, not that he showed any appreciation.) If Afzal didn’t care about his craft (driving a taxi), that child would have been crushed and that father would have been crushed with guilt (I assume). But the father is oblivious to what Afzal did.
Isn’t it interesting, how many times in life one person can be oblivious to the good deed someone else did on their behalf?

Interesting! I didn’t know you could review NYC cabs, hmm. They are OK. You either have to take the subway or a taxi in manhattan. So you know there are lots of them. They aren’t that expensive for convenience and you can easily get one wherever you are in the city.
I’ve taken a taxi to Chinatown, my friend’s apartment, the airport, etc and didn’t have too much problem with them. Sometimes you get a chatty driver and will enjoy the ride, sometimes you get an awkward one or might even get yelled at. It is always an adventure! Can you image NYC without the yellow cabs? That wouldn’t be NYC right?

2.5 stars…
Taking a taxi in NYC is just about the most expensive way to get around, it is however one of the most convenient modes of transportation as there are over 13,000 yellow cabs in NYC, most of which are in Manhattan so it’s easy to catch one. Compared to most other cities I’ve been to the taxis in NYC are much better as they don’t scam you and are easy to find. 95% of the time the driver will know how to get to your destination if it’s in Manhattan (after all every taxi driver has to take classes and a test on many things about the city before being granted a licence). The worst part of taking a taxi is that it’s disgustingly rare having your driver know where he’s going in the outer boroughs though as surprisingly most of them still don’t have GPS units in their cars so you should know how to get to your destination just in case (or use the GPS on your smart phone). Sadly there are very few Robert De Niro type drivers out there anymore and the make up is predominantly Middle Eastern and African descent. Keep in mind that it’s against the rules for them to be talking on the phone or playing their music, plenty still do which is almost as annoying as the TV screen that is in every car (in my opinion) playing news clips automatically as you get in. Luckily you can turn off the screen or the volume. The screen is good for the live map feature though. Another good feature is that every cab takes cards so you never have to worry about having enough cash on you. An extremely general estimate for an average length taxi ride is $ 13 – 23 (there’s a flat $ 52 rate between Manhattan and JFK airport). Here’s how the current pricing works out:
Base fare: $ 2.50 ($ 3.00 between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 am, and $ 3.50 during the peak weekday hours of 4:00 — 8:00 p.m.)
Traveling: 50 cents for each one-​fifth of a mile or each 50 seconds stopped or travelling under 12 miles an hour
Tax: 50 cents
Tip: not required but expected (between 12−20%)
Here’s how you hail a NYC taxi (needs to be a Yellow taxi, if you try hailing an a taxi and an unmarked black livery cab tries to pick you up it’s technically illegal):
Just stand on the street, ideally on an avenue and on the side of the road where cars are going the direction you need to be going, standing near an intersection increases your chances. What you’re looking for is a cab whose number (on the roof of the car) is lit up. If the words («off duty») besides the cabs ID# is lit up, or the number is not lit up, the cab is not available to be hailed. Just have your hand up in the air, yelling taxi or whistling is something pretty useless and quite frankly, makes you look dumb. Always just get into the taxi that pulls over for you, NEVER let the driver ask where you’re going while you’re outside the vehicle. It’s illegal for a cab driver to refuse to take you anywhere within the five boroughs even though it does still happen (don’t let it). If you’ve got the money or the time to spare it’s better just to call a proper car service. If you don’t have the money to spare, be a normal New Yorker and take the subway, it’s a relatively great system. And if you don’t have the time or don’t need to travel far (and live here), invest in a bike, it’s the best way to get around.
SOME RANDOM FACTS & HISTORY (not including the constantly changing fares, taxi features, and car makes and models):
–Taxis are almost all owned and operated by private companies licenced by NYC. Occasionally the driver will own the medallion (affixed to the hood and is what makes a NYC taxi) but the medallions are so expensive (hundreds of thousands of dollars) and so rare that it becomes available for sale (there are a fixed number of them) that these private companies typically own them.
–1897– first NYC taxi (more of an electric cart, eventually horse and buggies took back over)
–1920s– More and more fleets of taxis came to NYC. The most famous being the yellow and black checkered cabs from the Checker Cab Company (a NYC icon that remained in the city until the 1980s).
–1937– NYC Mayor started licencing taxi’s and limited the number of taxis with the medallion system that’s in place today
–1971-​The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) was established and presides over the city’s medallion (yellow) taxicabs, livery cabs, «black cars», commuter vans, para transit vehicles (ambulettes) and some luxury limousines

Way too expensive to go from point A to point B. Sometimes the driver doesn’t even know where point B is. That is when I promptly remove thyself from the cab and use another mode of transportation… Or just find another cab.
I was raised to make use of the subways and buses. Cabs never appealed to me until I started bringing bottles of wine to parties and whatnot and I realized hey, I don’t want this bottle to break! Other than that and the occasional spark of laziness (oxymoron?) I really hate using cabs.

Yes, the NYC Yellow Taxi is an icon. Sure, they are everywhere, with some being good and others being downright craptacular. As I just got back from using a cab to go across town for a client meeting I realized that I had not yet reviewed these wheels of rolling death. My observations —
1) What the fuck is with the new micro-​mini cabs? Holy crap there is no god damn leg room in the back seat! Sliding in and out is like being put in a meat grinder. Why are my fucking knees slammed into the back of the front seat, and why are my feet lodged under it? My dress shoes are now all scuffed up. What idiot designed this shit?
2) I turn off the fucking annoying TV. Every ride. Bad enough I have to be bombarded with commercials, and stupid ass Jimmy Kimmel segments, but do I have to be subjected to this in every cab rotating over and over and over?
3) Don’t tell me your damn credit card machine is not working you dick. You picked me up now take me where I want to go as I have no cash on me for a $ 20 ride. I am using plastic.
4) Take me to Brooklyn or I will fucking kill you. I will not ask again or argue this point, and no, I will not get out of the cab. I will sit here and waste your time. It’s your job — do it!
5) What is that god damned smell? Why does the cab smell like dirty ass? Febreeze once in a while dammit! Hang some of those little scented Christmas trees around. Take a damn shower. Use deodorant. Have some pride in yourself and your cab dude.
6) I also hate the fucking mini SUV cabs. Another douchebag design where it’s hard to climb into and feels tight as a drum. No leg room at all.
7) Close the windows and turn on the freaking air conditioning! I ask if it works as soon as I get in. If you say no, or don’t acknowledge me I am getting out. Case closed.
8) Get off the fucking phone. I don’t want to listen to you talking to your friends and family for the whole ride. In a strange language. No matter what country they are in. Shut up!
9) What do you mean you don’t know where that is? You are the driver so why are you asking me for the directions? Holy crap!
10) If I tell you the best route you better take it. Don’t try to scam me by taking the most congested route, or not cutting through the park, or acting like you didn’t know the street fair is there. I have lived here long enough to know all your tricks.
11) Turn off Al-​Zazeera radio, or whatever Bangra crap music or religious chanting station you are listening to. I want a nice quiet ride.
These are just a hand full of gripes and opinions I have on NYC taxi’s. Still, there are some that on occasion will pleasantly surprise you. In a few instances I will hop in a cab that is large and roomy. Clean and fresh smelling. With a courteous and savvy driver that gets you there quickly and will use the best route possible. Some even will put on music you like or the ballgame on request. Nice cold air conditioning too. For these guys I tip handsomely and they are worth it. Too bad these cabs and drivers seem to be in the minority.
Overall, we are stuck with all of them, good and bad. I use the subways anyway 90% of the time as a monthly unlimited metrocard will get you pretty much everywhere quicker and cheaper. For those times I need to use a cab I pick and choose which ones I will get in now, and sometimes you just have to grin and bear it as some really suck and you are stuck with whatever comes by first.

Serious question: Is there some sort of credit card machine virus going around NYC taxicabs? I ask because lately it seems that most cabs I attempt to get into, the cab driver immediately informs me that the credit card machine is broken.
Huh. Really? I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to be driving then. (Jerks)
From the nyc dot gov site:
«Is a driver allowed to refuse to let a passenger use his/​her credit/​debit card?
No, drivers are required to accept American Express, MasterCard, VISA and Discover (and some will accept the JCB Card) for all fares. The driver must accept credit/​debit cards for any fare amount. If a driver claims the credit card system is broken and/​or prevents a passenger from using their credit/​debit card, please report the medallion number to the TLC by calling 311.
What if a driver says the system is not working?
The passenger should note the medallion number and call 311. Drivers are permitted to work with a broken system for up to 48 hours as long as they have reported the problem and are awaiting repair. Almost all (90%) system repairs must be completed within six hours.»
So, a word of advice: get the medallion number and call 311 and report them. This has been a Public Service Announcement. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Yea, yea, I know. We can file this one under #firstworldproblems.

New York City would not be the same without all these crazy yellow cabs drivers honking their horns, tailgating cars or just speeding down the streets…
The touch screen displayed that has GPS functions, the exact amount of the fares… with a break down of the toll charges is just amazing and convenient for tourist and locals alike.
The taxi we hired was clean, the driver polite and I have no complaints at all…
If you have more than 2 people traveling from the LGA to Manhattan, it is much better to hire a cab then taking the airport shuttle bus.