On 29 December, Sunday, I had to grab a cab by 68th street. Rain and time, it was about 12 noon I thought it would be difficult; it wasn’t. Cabs were plentiful, even in rain. And cheap.
What is difficult? Cab drivers in NYC don’t, on the whole, speak English and also don’t know the city.
I was going from the East Side to the West Side; East 68th to West 57th. To Carnegie Hall. NY is a grid, so, this should be easy: cut thru Central Park, go around Columbus Circle, down 7th and you are there.
A London Black Cab driver Knows London Town. Give them a postal code; they are there. Better, you are there.
MYC cabbie didn’t know how to:
1. cut across the Park-‘it is closed’
2. know Carnegie Hall-‘where?’
3. how to speak English
I showed him; directed; got there; paid $8.00. (London? probably £20) but,
But, I was frustrated and disoriented. Why? MYC is getting worst; people own cab licenses and rent them out 24/7. There are now no native New Yorkers driving cabs. None I can see.
They use the city and cab drivers to make their monies. No ‘fair-trade.’ the worst of NYC: using and absorbing people.
Moral: the $ and availability of plentiful cabs picking me up anywhere-MYC
but getting there, and fairness: Our London Town
a New Yorker has become a London boy.
charles osewalt's blog 
Leave a Reply