There aren’t any medallion cab services for the outer boroughs, but Bloomberg has been proposing a plan for some time to expand the area of allowed street hails for yellow cabs to at least downtown Brooklyn and the Bronx.
I didn’t see an answer to this, but was this a yellow cab?
Who told you that? Yellow cabs are allow to pick up street hails anywhere in the city of New York.
They are considering various plans to increase the fleet presence in the outer boroughs, including creating medallions valid only in the outer boroughs. However, all medallions presently in existence can be used anywhere in the 5 boroughs.
TLC Rules, Ch. 51, Definitions Section:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/2011rulebook_ch51.pdf
*
Taxicab means a motor vehicle, yellow in color, bearing a Medallion indicating that it is licensed by the Commission to carry up to five passengers for hire and authorized to accept hails from persons in the street. (The terms “Medallion Taxicab,” “Licensed Taxicab,” and “Taxicab” mean the same thing, and may be used interchangeably.) *
and
Taxicab Driver’s License means the authority granted by the Commission to an individual to drive a Taxicab in the City of New York.
And then he had to pay for the damages plus a possible vandalism charge. Worth it? No.
Again, I think you’re confused and I wonder how you came by this misinformation. The Bloomberg plan is to permit For Hire Vehicles (dispatched car service AKA “black cars”) to pick up street hails in the outer boroughs. Yellow cabs can, and do, pickup street hails legally everywhere in the five boroughs, and will continue to do so.
See, e.g.,
You’ll note in tht article, the yellow cab drivers oppose the measure, because it ends their exclusive right to street pick ups.
Just to add: if it was a yellow cab, there’s no way the $80 total was a miscommunication, a the guy’s last fare, or something like that. Yellow cabs have TV screens that display the fare at the end of the ride.
I guess I got mixed up about the yellow/livery regulations, which I can never keep straight. This is why I take the subway. 
So we can agree that what you stated previously, that it could be illegal for a yellow cab to pick up a street hail, is completely incorrect. I don’t mean to be a dick about it but you threw a huge sense of confusion into this discussion with a statement that was entirely mistaken, and you reiterated it three times.
Yellow cabs DO NOT need to be at a airport lineup to get a fare in outside Manhattan. They can legally get a fare ANYWHERE, as long as they are in the 5 Boroughs. As noted, if they do in fact take a passenger to a place where it would be illegal for them to pick up a fare (outside New York City) they may charge double.
Yes, did you just hand the cabbie $100 and asked for $10 back, or something equivalent to this? Or did Bah say the fare is $79? In any case, I’d just consider this as a hard lesson learned and put it behind you.
We’ve had this discussion before.
(BTW, I’m not stalking you with some kind of weird lurker grudge, friedo – I didn’t even remember who said it last time. I just remember that the claim was made once before and it was news to me, so I decided to find the old thread to see if it was ever answered. ;))
I think the livery rule is that they are not supposed to pick up street hails, period. But in queens/brooklyn they do it all the time anyway. Just to confuse things more.
RE: OP, too late for this advice now, but getting a receipt could have helped a lot in this situation. Next time, I guess.
This system is automated in yellow cabs. The fare is displayed on a computer screen and you have the option of paying in cash or by ATM/credit card. The driver doesn’t just turn around and announce the fare - for reasons that are obvious in this case. For that matter, I think every cabbie I’ve ever had has confirmed the tip I was giving him if I was paying in cash. The chances that there was a misunderstanding seem remote.
For trips outside the city, medallions can refuse or charge whatever they want as long as it is agreed upon before the trip starts.
The only exceptions are to Newark Airport (must use meter + $15 + plus tunnel cost back and turnpike toll if they don’t go local). They can refuse a trip to Newark though if they have been on duty for more than 8 hours, but if they accept, this is the fare deal.
Nassau and Westchester have their own fare deals too, and again, the driver can refuse if he has been on duty for more than 8 hours.
Ok, you’re right, and I’m also right. There is an official taximeter rate for trips to Westchester Co and Nassau Co. (the fourth button on the right, aka “Rate 4”). I forgot it doesn’t apply to Jersey or any other destination, for which rates can be negotiated as you say.
However, I do not believe it is the case that a driver can charge any agreed fare to Westchester or Nassau counties. I believe they must charge Rate 4. Which is double the in-city rate.
Yeah, OK, I fucked that one up. I’ve been out of the city for a few years now, and wasn’t thinking.
But I still stand by the statements that 1) lots of places in Brooklyn and Queens are as far or farther from the airports as they are from Manhattan, 2) going to the airport to get a fare means sitting on a line and not making money for way too much time, and 3) it’s usually not an easy thing to pick up a Manhattan-bound fare in the middle of the night.
And to explain something I guess I should have explained previously, I always took the passenger wherever they wanted to go. I was not arguing in favor of cabbies who refuse to go to the outer boroughs. I was merely contesting Hello Again’s assertions that
.
I feel like we’re still waiting on the OP here. Argent Towers, was this a yellow cab, or was it a black car with other taxicab markings? Did it have one of those annoying TV screens that you have to turn off and that displays your fare at the end of the ride?
It was a yellow cab, and it had the computer screen and everything. Seemed pretty official.
OK. So we can at least put these alternate theories to bed. The cabbie didn’t think you were just giving him a huge tip for no reason, and $39 wasn’t his last fare. I’d been sort of wondering if you could have gotten a ride from a livery cab (even though they’re not supposed to do that) who charged a higher rate than regular taxis, but it’s not that either.
Did it say NYC Taxi on the side?
My guess is the driver hadn’t cleared the meter and figured he could take the op for a ride, literally and figuratively, when he realized he wasn’t local. A local would have checked the meter when they got in.
This made me LOL. Literally. And I rarely LOL.
mmm