In a recent class for New York City taxi drivers at The Master Cabbie Taxi Academy, a spot survey was taken which produced statistic on average income for a group of ten drivers. It was just shy of a thousand dollars per week. All drove for large taxi companies and all but two drove full time.
I have written of NYC taxi driver jobs before. But as the world turns, people still leave the taxi business every day and more taxi shifts become available. It may not be the career you planned for and it is not an easy job, but at $50,000 per year it is a career that a realist must consider.
Drivers that purchase a car, or sign on for long term leases can earn as much as seventy-five thousand.....This brings us to YELLOW MANIA...
In my day, we would hustle to scrape up a hundred thirty, or a hundred forty dollars per shift on a good day. Sure we would do better on the occasional weekend shift, and there were many nights when the streets of plenty yielded little more than grocery money. But, the full time New york City Taxi Drivers were in the six to seven hundred dollars range per week. Approximately 30,000 for a hard driving full time cabby on annualized basis.
Now IN 2009, we are seeing full time taxi drivers earning more than fifty thousand dollars per year IN A RECESSION!!
This is something every person with a drivers license can think about. Are there paid vacations? NO...Are there paid sick days? NO...The "Easy" street you remember in the corporate world or the world of government employment is not one you can drive on now.....Cabby's DRIVE ON EVERY STREET because there is no easy street...And those who have enjoyed what they thought was easy street are lined up by the millions at the unemployment office.
How many states, like California will go bankrupt? How many Cities will be decimated like Detroit? For how much longer can Nations print paper money and call it progress as one in eight citizens are in need of gainful employment?? For how long will the average Joe wait for a job that is not coming back when he should have taken two jobs at Walmart and Seven Eleven and moved to a cheaper home...a year ago.
Downsize????All the time....But the taxi drivers are raking it in and will be doing so well ahead of the poor mans curve that is now settling on the mindset of Americas ever expanding working class......Working Class? Taxi drivers are working class.....Working Class Hero's.
To drive a taxi in New York City contact Master Cabbie TAxi Academy 1-718-472-1699 or 1-800-955-8294 or www.mastercabbie.com...Ask for the big money department...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
AddressTAXI
LOST IN MANHATTAN? Ask the MASTER CABBIE
The New York City address slide guide (t.m. s.m. patent pending). A simple piece of folded (Sleeve)cardboard, with another piece of cardboard inserted. With a cut out to pull the inserted card to a desired location on the decorative front of the sleeve, and a slot for viewing addresses and cross street on the inside of the sleeve.....Ingenious.
How many people can name the nearest cross street to an address on a Manhattan Ave. without looking it up??? Not many...I must admit there are a few I would have to look up, but not many.
The Manhattan Grid is the key. Addresses were designed to allow for easy calculation in finding an address.
Example: 780 1st Ave. is at 42nd ST.
Process to calculate: Cancel last digit of address 780 = 78 and then divide by 2 = 39 and then add the key number +3....= 42 Street.
Where do you get the key number??? From the Master Cabbie of course www.mastercabbie.com
The New York City address slide guide (t.m. s.m. patent pending). A simple piece of folded (Sleeve)cardboard, with another piece of cardboard inserted. With a cut out to pull the inserted card to a desired location on the decorative front of the sleeve, and a slot for viewing addresses and cross street on the inside of the sleeve.....Ingenious.
How many people can name the nearest cross street to an address on a Manhattan Ave. without looking it up??? Not many...I must admit there are a few I would have to look up, but not many.
The Manhattan Grid is the key. Addresses were designed to allow for easy calculation in finding an address.
Example: 780 1st Ave. is at 42nd ST.
Process to calculate: Cancel last digit of address 780 = 78 and then divide by 2 = 39 and then add the key number +3....= 42 Street.
Where do you get the key number??? From the Master Cabbie of course www.mastercabbie.com
Monday, September 28, 2009
TAXIunemploymentINSURANCE
JOBS JOBS JOBS
RECESSION PROOF JOBS..
New York City Taxi Driver (HACK) License
The Ultimate Unemployment Insurance
In a City with 13,235 Yellow taxicabs there are 26,470 shifts possible per day. OR 185,290 per week.. Or enough for 37,058 full time drivers working five shifts per week.......And this is just the Yellow Cabs.. There are also an additional 30,000 or so community car services and 6,000 or so luxury limousines...
In the recession of 2009 it seems clear that people, who were bankers yesterday, or Stock brokers in 2007, or restaurant owners are now making a living driving taxi cabs in New York City.
It is not Wall Street..It is ANY STREET or ANY AVENUE in the Five Boroughs, Three major airports and Two adjoining counties all adding up to about FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS Per YEAR FOR A 5/6 SHIFT WEEKLY TAXI DRIVER.
Fifty Thousand Dollars per year is a TEMPTING amount when you put it along side the millions of people who climb onto subways, trains, and buses each day for much less money and absolutely less freedom. As they hope to get through the day without the boss calling them into the office or a minimal amount of office politics at the water cooler. How much are they earning....
Out on their own, taxi drivers doing their job, take a fare from Point A to Point B. Safely, they collect the fare and then cruise until the next passenger throws a hand in the air in need of taxi service....Another customer.....Not a perfect science but a never ending stream for those who survive the lulls and all else that is NYC.
Do all taxi drivers make 50K a year...NO! But MANY DO, and there are many who earn more. A committed taxi professional with his own taxicab and medallion can generate revenue of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS per year. With debt service of fifty thousand and operating costs of thirty thousand....DO THE MATH...And this does not include equity growth.
After a twenty year career a taxi driver/owner can retiree with a medallion valued at Six hundred thousand (2009) dollars, and probably a home close to paid for as well.
VALUE GROWTH: The value of the three medallion(TAXI VEHICLE LICENSE)classes in 2009 is is $575,000 , $750,000 and $475,000 respectively. In 1990 the price was about $100,000... This pretty much proves that the historical medallion value growth has outpaced the stock market indexes over the long term.
NO GUARANTEES: BUT, the value cycle is opposite of the normal American business cycle. This is due to driver influx during economic downturns, and driver Exodus during economic expansion....If there are less drivers to rent the cabs there is less revenue to pay mortgages thus lowering the value of the underlying security...BUT WHEN THERE ARE LESS DRIVERS... is the best time to drive a taxi as competition lessens and demand for service picks up. This is when driver income peaks.
IN COMPARISON There are few opportunities to earn entry level income at the rate of New York City Taxi Drivers. It is not a six figure income but the mobility of the profession...Not the wheels but the fact that with a New York City Taxi Operators License a driver can operate any taxicab, car service or Limousine. The fact that they can go to the Taxi Fleet next door if the one they are at does not have a cab available...The fact that with an investment of as little a five thousand dollars they can buy their own Taxicab and lease a medallion and give themselves a good chance of earning seventy thousand dollars per year. A VERY UNUSUAL OPPORTUNITY.
IT AIN'T EASY.....They are not giving money away in this business...There are long hours and plenty of bumps in the road.... There are licensing issues, and weather, and traffic,...Traffic...Traffic...But those who endure learn how to get around the traffic and live with it when they can not....There is a high stress level, and if dealing with people is not your strong suit this is not a job for you.
YOU MUST LOVE NEW YORK CITY and YOU MUST LOVE TO DRIVE...If not????? Alaska is looking for a new governor, go check it out.
If you want to drive a NEW YORK CITY YELLOW TAXI call the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy in New York City.718 472 1699 or 1 800 955 8294 or www.mastercabbie.com It is the largest taxi driver training center in the world. The Academy's full licensing program is the most robust in NYC. Five thousand driver come to Mastercabbie each year...YOU SHOULD TOO....
RECESSION PROOF JOBS..
New York City Taxi Driver (HACK) License
The Ultimate Unemployment Insurance
In a City with 13,235 Yellow taxicabs there are 26,470 shifts possible per day. OR 185,290 per week.. Or enough for 37,058 full time drivers working five shifts per week.......And this is just the Yellow Cabs.. There are also an additional 30,000 or so community car services and 6,000 or so luxury limousines...
In the recession of 2009 it seems clear that people, who were bankers yesterday, or Stock brokers in 2007, or restaurant owners are now making a living driving taxi cabs in New York City.
It is not Wall Street..It is ANY STREET or ANY AVENUE in the Five Boroughs, Three major airports and Two adjoining counties all adding up to about FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS Per YEAR FOR A 5/6 SHIFT WEEKLY TAXI DRIVER.
Fifty Thousand Dollars per year is a TEMPTING amount when you put it along side the millions of people who climb onto subways, trains, and buses each day for much less money and absolutely less freedom. As they hope to get through the day without the boss calling them into the office or a minimal amount of office politics at the water cooler. How much are they earning....
Out on their own, taxi drivers doing their job, take a fare from Point A to Point B. Safely, they collect the fare and then cruise until the next passenger throws a hand in the air in need of taxi service....Another customer.....Not a perfect science but a never ending stream for those who survive the lulls and all else that is NYC.
Do all taxi drivers make 50K a year...NO! But MANY DO, and there are many who earn more. A committed taxi professional with his own taxicab and medallion can generate revenue of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS per year. With debt service of fifty thousand and operating costs of thirty thousand....DO THE MATH...And this does not include equity growth.
After a twenty year career a taxi driver/owner can retiree with a medallion valued at Six hundred thousand (2009) dollars, and probably a home close to paid for as well.
VALUE GROWTH: The value of the three medallion(TAXI VEHICLE LICENSE)classes in 2009 is is $575,000 , $750,000 and $475,000 respectively. In 1990 the price was about $100,000... This pretty much proves that the historical medallion value growth has outpaced the stock market indexes over the long term.
NO GUARANTEES: BUT, the value cycle is opposite of the normal American business cycle. This is due to driver influx during economic downturns, and driver Exodus during economic expansion....If there are less drivers to rent the cabs there is less revenue to pay mortgages thus lowering the value of the underlying security...BUT WHEN THERE ARE LESS DRIVERS... is the best time to drive a taxi as competition lessens and demand for service picks up. This is when driver income peaks.
IN COMPARISON There are few opportunities to earn entry level income at the rate of New York City Taxi Drivers. It is not a six figure income but the mobility of the profession...Not the wheels but the fact that with a New York City Taxi Operators License a driver can operate any taxicab, car service or Limousine. The fact that they can go to the Taxi Fleet next door if the one they are at does not have a cab available...The fact that with an investment of as little a five thousand dollars they can buy their own Taxicab and lease a medallion and give themselves a good chance of earning seventy thousand dollars per year. A VERY UNUSUAL OPPORTUNITY.
IT AIN'T EASY.....They are not giving money away in this business...There are long hours and plenty of bumps in the road.... There are licensing issues, and weather, and traffic,...Traffic...Traffic...But those who endure learn how to get around the traffic and live with it when they can not....There is a high stress level, and if dealing with people is not your strong suit this is not a job for you.
YOU MUST LOVE NEW YORK CITY and YOU MUST LOVE TO DRIVE...If not????? Alaska is looking for a new governor, go check it out.
If you want to drive a NEW YORK CITY YELLOW TAXI call the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy in New York City.718 472 1699 or 1 800 955 8294 or www.mastercabbie.com It is the largest taxi driver training center in the world. The Academy's full licensing program is the most robust in NYC. Five thousand driver come to Mastercabbie each year...YOU SHOULD TOO....
Saturday, September 26, 2009
TAXITEXTING
Taxi Texting Is A NO NO!!!!
In-and-around 1998 a representative of ATT appeared before the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission to promote the allowed use of cell phones, by NY City Taxi Drivers. He espoused training. Education he claimed would be the end-all to save-all when it came to taxi drivers using cell phones. A logical approach.
The oldest Commissioner on the Agencies bench, Martin Greenberg called him out on it. He said something to the effect of: "Sonny, you remind me of the tobacco executives who stood before congress and claimed that smoking does not cause cancer"...A valid and vivid comparison I thought. The line generated a few laughs and then the Commission voted unanimously to outlaw the use of cell phones by taxi drivers while operating a taxicab unless the Cab was legally parked.
In 1998 cell phones were coming into their own. A proliferation of devices that lead to what is now a never ending stream of data that links the distraction of cell phone use to traffic accidents.
Enter "The Texting Revolution"....Who would think that people would rather push a few letters on a key board than say what they mean the way that they want????? But Texting is all the rage and, it is, on the surface and in depth of study, much more of a distraction than speaking on a cell phone. Thus, a greater risk to the driver and those they would injure should they wander from the thought train and drivers lane......
At this moment in time the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission is creating the language to add to the appropriate rules for taxi operators that will make it clear that Texting is against the law. It is already outlawed by New York State DMV and thus is outlawed while driving a taxi as in any other vehicle. But industry specific language is needed to clarify industry specific realities.
IT IS DANGEROUS.
And the one thing no one will debate is that Texting while driving is dangerous. How dangerous??? Only the hospitals and the cemeteries know for sure. We as a nation have instituted laws and manufacturing incentives and mandates that have reduced traffic related deaths to under forty thousand per year from forty-eight thousnad per year twenty-five years ago. All the while the country has grown in size making these reductions all the more impressive.
But as all the apparatus is in place for drivers ed and alcohol and drug counseling we find almost every teenager with a cell phone and their fingers at an ever-alarming rate, on the key board. Grade school love stories that were once passed in notes in class are now sent through cyber space. I feel like I am George Jetson...ALMOST.
What will be interesting to see is the defense people offer when standing in front of a judge charged with texting. At which point the judge in Solomonic candor will simply demand the cell phone records which will either convict or exonerate the defendant....
NO TEXTING ZONE
In-and-around 1998 a representative of ATT appeared before the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission to promote the allowed use of cell phones, by NY City Taxi Drivers. He espoused training. Education he claimed would be the end-all to save-all when it came to taxi drivers using cell phones. A logical approach.
The oldest Commissioner on the Agencies bench, Martin Greenberg called him out on it. He said something to the effect of: "Sonny, you remind me of the tobacco executives who stood before congress and claimed that smoking does not cause cancer"...A valid and vivid comparison I thought. The line generated a few laughs and then the Commission voted unanimously to outlaw the use of cell phones by taxi drivers while operating a taxicab unless the Cab was legally parked.
In 1998 cell phones were coming into their own. A proliferation of devices that lead to what is now a never ending stream of data that links the distraction of cell phone use to traffic accidents.
Enter "The Texting Revolution"....Who would think that people would rather push a few letters on a key board than say what they mean the way that they want????? But Texting is all the rage and, it is, on the surface and in depth of study, much more of a distraction than speaking on a cell phone. Thus, a greater risk to the driver and those they would injure should they wander from the thought train and drivers lane......
At this moment in time the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission is creating the language to add to the appropriate rules for taxi operators that will make it clear that Texting is against the law. It is already outlawed by New York State DMV and thus is outlawed while driving a taxi as in any other vehicle. But industry specific language is needed to clarify industry specific realities.
IT IS DANGEROUS.
And the one thing no one will debate is that Texting while driving is dangerous. How dangerous??? Only the hospitals and the cemeteries know for sure. We as a nation have instituted laws and manufacturing incentives and mandates that have reduced traffic related deaths to under forty thousand per year from forty-eight thousnad per year twenty-five years ago. All the while the country has grown in size making these reductions all the more impressive.
But as all the apparatus is in place for drivers ed and alcohol and drug counseling we find almost every teenager with a cell phone and their fingers at an ever-alarming rate, on the key board. Grade school love stories that were once passed in notes in class are now sent through cyber space. I feel like I am George Jetson...ALMOST.
What will be interesting to see is the defense people offer when standing in front of a judge charged with texting. At which point the judge in Solomonic candor will simply demand the cell phone records which will either convict or exonerate the defendant....
NO TEXTING ZONE
Friday, September 25, 2009
UNITEDTAXINATIONS
United Taxi Nations
September 23, 2009 and the streets are full of the United Nations crowd. As rookie cab drivers suffer the wise old Hack Pro's use this week for rest and relaxation....Why? Its the traffic S^%$%^$%&...Oh yes the traffic....
Yes this is a good week to avoid the flow of mechanical reality that floods the Midtown grid from early till late, north to south and east to west. Who is this flood?? It is us, humanity, the human impulse inching along a broken black-topped tier twenty or fifty feet above the rumbling subway and a hundred feet below the mammoth spans of bridges and sky scrapers that are as much of New York City as any other aspect of this home we love.
BUT, why would any person in their right mind want to drive on this Island? Why does a fish swim in the stream? It is in our nature....Do all New Yorkers drive?? No! In fact most do not but those who do, relish the challenge as it affects and creates behavioral patterns that last a lifetime and make us stronger.
It is true that some folks, not of this place think we are a little rough around the edges. They can not see that our drivers edge polishes us in ways that make us shine that they will never understand nor possibly imagine.
We are progress on wheels. Hope in a nutshell. We do not have time to stand still and lose our place in line to that which call us, whatever that may be.
And in this great city none reigns supreme on the street more than A TAXI DRIVER. In New York City, or anyplace, it is very possibly the best driver on the road today is the seasoned cabby. Working twelve hour shifts in the madness that is New York
City traffic gives way to s skill level that can not be easily matched or even easily contemplated. Seventy two hours per week in pursuit of the thousand dollars that will pay the rent, and the phone bill, and the food bill, and the doctors bill and for all the other necessities which push us out of our houses each day and onto the streets of plenty where we harvest the gold. Found in outstretched arms and frantic waves or cool nods that put the bodies in the back seat.
Point A to point B. The News York City Taxi industry, 13,000 cabs strong, 47,000 drivers vying for a place ON THE SEAT as we drive into the Eternity of NYC. A dimension of Yankee Empire State Building Grand Central Terminal Madison Square Garden et al....THE BIG APPLE baby here we are.. love it.... or go back to sleep.
I AM TAXI DRIVER
September 23, 2009 and the streets are full of the United Nations crowd. As rookie cab drivers suffer the wise old Hack Pro's use this week for rest and relaxation....Why? Its the traffic S^%$%^$%&...Oh yes the traffic....
Yes this is a good week to avoid the flow of mechanical reality that floods the Midtown grid from early till late, north to south and east to west. Who is this flood?? It is us, humanity, the human impulse inching along a broken black-topped tier twenty or fifty feet above the rumbling subway and a hundred feet below the mammoth spans of bridges and sky scrapers that are as much of New York City as any other aspect of this home we love.
BUT, why would any person in their right mind want to drive on this Island? Why does a fish swim in the stream? It is in our nature....Do all New Yorkers drive?? No! In fact most do not but those who do, relish the challenge as it affects and creates behavioral patterns that last a lifetime and make us stronger.
It is true that some folks, not of this place think we are a little rough around the edges. They can not see that our drivers edge polishes us in ways that make us shine that they will never understand nor possibly imagine.
We are progress on wheels. Hope in a nutshell. We do not have time to stand still and lose our place in line to that which call us, whatever that may be.
And in this great city none reigns supreme on the street more than A TAXI DRIVER. In New York City, or anyplace, it is very possibly the best driver on the road today is the seasoned cabby. Working twelve hour shifts in the madness that is New York
City traffic gives way to s skill level that can not be easily matched or even easily contemplated. Seventy two hours per week in pursuit of the thousand dollars that will pay the rent, and the phone bill, and the food bill, and the doctors bill and for all the other necessities which push us out of our houses each day and onto the streets of plenty where we harvest the gold. Found in outstretched arms and frantic waves or cool nods that put the bodies in the back seat.
Point A to point B. The News York City Taxi industry, 13,000 cabs strong, 47,000 drivers vying for a place ON THE SEAT as we drive into the Eternity of NYC. A dimension of Yankee Empire State Building Grand Central Terminal Madison Square Garden et al....THE BIG APPLE baby here we are.. love it.... or go back to sleep.
I AM TAXI DRIVER
Monday, September 21, 2009
CabbyPrince
THE CABBIE PRINCE
It was a long time ago in a place called Long Island City N.Y. Long Island City is a small community on the East River in Queens New York that holds two gateways to Manhattan. The Queensborough Bridge and The Midtown Tunnle, and at that time was mostly warehouses and old three story one family houses many of which had been turned into three apartments.
I came to Long Island City to find a job as a taxi driver, and after eight months of commuting from sixty miles away I found an apartment on and old cobbled street, 43rd Ave. in the shadow of the Queensboro Bridge. It was a glorious time.
I fancied myself a poet in those days and spent a good deal of time with a pen in my hand serving my angst with rhyming couplets and an occasional exercise in iambic pentameter. They were glorious times of uncertinty and exploration for a Brooklyn born white boy running away from the suburbs and coming home to New York City.
In my quest for action I arranged for a small theater at 500 Greenwich Street where I would read my poetry. Another taxi driver was convinced to join me and Hack Poetry was born........
Our first reading was furiously promoted by ME...calling all the local "cool" news outlets and some of the upper end ones. The night before the grand event my phone rang. It was Marc Singer from the New Yorker and he was planing to come to the reading..WOW....I had nudged the receptionist at the New Yorker and she apparently had obliged and sent the flyer up the food chain.....So we would have at least one person in attendance.
We were two rookies but none the less adreniline pumped and after about an hour of taking turns reading our poems we served some juice and cookies to our now swollen audience of seven people and then adjourned to Joes Bar on 6th Street in the East Village for the night.....A SUCCESS
On August 19 the New Yorker hit the stands and we were celebrities at the Taxi Garage. dozens of drivers came to tell me that they had read the article....One, a tall thin man name Pete asked if he could read a poem at the next event....What next event..."Sure" I said.
A day or two later he approached me at the Taxi garage and began describing the poem he was going to read and reading me excerpts....He further explained that he was going to wear a Zorro Mask and call himself the Cabbie Prince....WHATEVER!?
When the night arrived, there he was. Six feet twoo inches of denim wearing the Mask Of Zorro. When his turn to read came he stuttered through a beautiful poem laced with racisim and hate for his passengers. I cringed at his crowning line as he uttered the words "French men and N$%#^ don't tip. And those fat F%$%$ Arabs, but here comes the ship"
The dozen people in the audience could not stop their jaws from dropping....We sat agape, my girlfriend, who is a very dark skinned lady looked at me in a hurt way as if I had said it.....It was raw poetry in a raw place spoken by a raw man in a raw way...indigenous art...before rap had conquered....
He slogged on and closed his poem with lines of beauty...."New York City, I'm part of its energy, power and pain, tomorrow I'll do this all over again, and again and again till I shot in the head, die in a crash or just plain drop dead. Randals Island not known for its beauty, on my stone let it say, Prince of Cabbies off Duty"
A smattering of applause and he walked off....
Hack poetry played in various off off broadway venues for three years becoming a reading and poetry contest in the end, but after a year or so The Cabbie prince didn't come around. I learned he had died in a fire in his apartment in Long Island City, apparently from smoking in bed and falling asleep....He was a heavy drinker so I was not surprised, but I was troubled as he was the first of my contemporaries to die, and in an awful way.
I and one other hack poet held a small reading at the RED ROOM in Hells Kitchen in his honor. It was scantly attended. I had an audio tape of his first reading which we played for those present to hear...." ON my stone let it say, Prince Of Cabbies, OFF DUTY".
It was a long time ago in a place called Long Island City N.Y. Long Island City is a small community on the East River in Queens New York that holds two gateways to Manhattan. The Queensborough Bridge and The Midtown Tunnle, and at that time was mostly warehouses and old three story one family houses many of which had been turned into three apartments.
I came to Long Island City to find a job as a taxi driver, and after eight months of commuting from sixty miles away I found an apartment on and old cobbled street, 43rd Ave. in the shadow of the Queensboro Bridge. It was a glorious time.
I fancied myself a poet in those days and spent a good deal of time with a pen in my hand serving my angst with rhyming couplets and an occasional exercise in iambic pentameter. They were glorious times of uncertinty and exploration for a Brooklyn born white boy running away from the suburbs and coming home to New York City.
In my quest for action I arranged for a small theater at 500 Greenwich Street where I would read my poetry. Another taxi driver was convinced to join me and Hack Poetry was born........
Our first reading was furiously promoted by ME...calling all the local "cool" news outlets and some of the upper end ones. The night before the grand event my phone rang. It was Marc Singer from the New Yorker and he was planing to come to the reading..WOW....I had nudged the receptionist at the New Yorker and she apparently had obliged and sent the flyer up the food chain.....So we would have at least one person in attendance.
We were two rookies but none the less adreniline pumped and after about an hour of taking turns reading our poems we served some juice and cookies to our now swollen audience of seven people and then adjourned to Joes Bar on 6th Street in the East Village for the night.....A SUCCESS
On August 19 the New Yorker hit the stands and we were celebrities at the Taxi Garage. dozens of drivers came to tell me that they had read the article....One, a tall thin man name Pete asked if he could read a poem at the next event....What next event..."Sure" I said.
A day or two later he approached me at the Taxi garage and began describing the poem he was going to read and reading me excerpts....He further explained that he was going to wear a Zorro Mask and call himself the Cabbie Prince....WHATEVER!?
When the night arrived, there he was. Six feet twoo inches of denim wearing the Mask Of Zorro. When his turn to read came he stuttered through a beautiful poem laced with racisim and hate for his passengers. I cringed at his crowning line as he uttered the words "French men and N$%#^ don't tip. And those fat F%$%$ Arabs, but here comes the ship"
The dozen people in the audience could not stop their jaws from dropping....We sat agape, my girlfriend, who is a very dark skinned lady looked at me in a hurt way as if I had said it.....It was raw poetry in a raw place spoken by a raw man in a raw way...indigenous art...before rap had conquered....
He slogged on and closed his poem with lines of beauty...."New York City, I'm part of its energy, power and pain, tomorrow I'll do this all over again, and again and again till I shot in the head, die in a crash or just plain drop dead. Randals Island not known for its beauty, on my stone let it say, Prince of Cabbies off Duty"
A smattering of applause and he walked off....
Hack poetry played in various off off broadway venues for three years becoming a reading and poetry contest in the end, but after a year or so The Cabbie prince didn't come around. I learned he had died in a fire in his apartment in Long Island City, apparently from smoking in bed and falling asleep....He was a heavy drinker so I was not surprised, but I was troubled as he was the first of my contemporaries to die, and in an awful way.
I and one other hack poet held a small reading at the RED ROOM in Hells Kitchen in his honor. It was scantly attended. I had an audio tape of his first reading which we played for those present to hear...." ON my stone let it say, Prince Of Cabbies, OFF DUTY".
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
CABBY1000Aweek
It seems like everyone is making a thousand a week.....Well approximately. Twice each week I conduct a survey of a group of Taxi Drivers during a seminar at the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy. Full time drivers, those working five or six shifts per week seem to be in thousand dollar per week range....Some as low as seven hundred, but few and a substantial number seem to be near or above twelve hundred per week.
So what's the problem??? It's the economy I guess...Two years ago, a skilled, six day driver was earning as much as fifteen hundred dollars and then the slide began....The lowest averages were last November when most seemed to be earning less than eight hundred...There was a lot of screaming in the classes, but the numbers went up through February and then back down through the summer and now, three weeks into Ramadan we are seeing the Thousand dollar number close at hand BUT...
During Ramadan many drivers work less as they fast and celebrate their traditions. This allows others to earn more as there is less competition for fares on the street... It will be interesting to see if the numbers hold up as many drivers return to a regular schedule after this week.
As we go through the fall and the holiday season business usually improves...But with ten percent unemployment we can only be hopeful....and thankful that we are working the streets and not walking the streets looking for a job.
In my day??? High earning drivers were taking home about one hundred twenty-five dollars per shift, perhaps a little more...We would of course have the occasional $200 shift but it was not a weekly event....It helps to remember that in a recession driver income goes down more due to competition as many drivers come into the industry keeping more cabs on the street. A vicious economic reality suffered by drivers who have not learned to drive smart, and quickly fall out of the industry due its demands of time and focus.
The good thing is that we are making a living. We are not Donald Trump rich...but instead are taxi cab happy which is better by far.....
So what's the problem??? It's the economy I guess...Two years ago, a skilled, six day driver was earning as much as fifteen hundred dollars and then the slide began....The lowest averages were last November when most seemed to be earning less than eight hundred...There was a lot of screaming in the classes, but the numbers went up through February and then back down through the summer and now, three weeks into Ramadan we are seeing the Thousand dollar number close at hand BUT...
During Ramadan many drivers work less as they fast and celebrate their traditions. This allows others to earn more as there is less competition for fares on the street... It will be interesting to see if the numbers hold up as many drivers return to a regular schedule after this week.
As we go through the fall and the holiday season business usually improves...But with ten percent unemployment we can only be hopeful....and thankful that we are working the streets and not walking the streets looking for a job.
In my day??? High earning drivers were taking home about one hundred twenty-five dollars per shift, perhaps a little more...We would of course have the occasional $200 shift but it was not a weekly event....It helps to remember that in a recession driver income goes down more due to competition as many drivers come into the industry keeping more cabs on the street. A vicious economic reality suffered by drivers who have not learned to drive smart, and quickly fall out of the industry due its demands of time and focus.
The good thing is that we are making a living. We are not Donald Trump rich...but instead are taxi cab happy which is better by far.....
Thursday, September 10, 2009
911
It was shortly after nine am when someone came into my classroom at the old Master Cabbie Taxi Academy on 29th Street in Queens to tell me that a plane had crashed into the Word Trade Center...."Really" I said..."Was It big one?"...I recall him saying it was and went back about my job of teaching geography of New York City to aspiring Yellow Cab drivers...
It seemed like a few minutes later he came back to tell me another plane had crashed into the other tower......It was an instantaneous clarification....I uttered the words "Bin Laden"....He nodded...
There was a student in my class, an off duty fire fighter, Anthony. After I learned of the second plane I came back and told the class, and asked Anthony specifically if he wanted to leave...It was instinctual, I didn't know anything specific...At that moment his beeper went off, he signed out, and disappeared down the old rickety staircase.
We suspended the class for a while to get the news....The school was on 29th Street in Queens at the intersection of Queensboro Plaza at the foot of the Queens side of the Queensboro Bridge....We walked over to the subway station and went up to the platform and could see the towers burning. It was not long and we could smell it. A stale taste of burnt air and debris kind of grew into the normal breathing quality and you knew it was not going to change anytime soon.
We went back to the taxi school and managed to get a channel on the network news which was talking but know knowing...The phones would not work. We were hearing about the DC and Pennsylvania planes but most potent in the mix of news and events was the bridge...
People were beginning to pour across the bridge from Manhattan on foot.. A sea of humanity, with dazed and confused looks, knowing they needed to get home, a place to sit and rest, time to think....All traffic was stopped from going over the Bridge except emergency vehicles...and the continual sea of humanity
The day continued with no way for most of the students to get home so we sat and talked...Some of the students ventured a hypothesis that it was the Japanese government getting even for the Atom Bombs of World 2...This was put forth seriously..I was in shock and then realized that they felt threatened as Muslims, of a possible Muslim connection...Justifiably...And Anthony was heroically on his way to ground zero....And I wanted to know where my daughter was....and so many other questions...
I tried to make phone calls none of which went through. So I started emailing but the servers were pretty much down or overloaded.....
When the phones were finally back in service, one of the calls I made was to Anthony. I left several messages over the coming weeks. several months later I called again and the number was no longer in service...I didn't know for sure but I kind of knew...He was a nice guy, had been struggling with his bills and so had come to Master Cabbie Taxi Academy to get a Hack license so he could moonlight on his days off as a firefighter.
He was the only American born student in the class that day and mentioned feeling a little out of place. But only In that he was never aware how important it is to so many immigrants to get their Hack License. None of his fellow students would be fireman in this generation. Their turn would come in the children and grand children of thirty and forty years from 2001.
About a year later I was in the classroom and the Office manager came in to tell me I had a phone call.....IT WAS ANTHONY!! I was overjoyed. Jubilant. Ecstatic and any other adjective you care to add to the moment. I was sure he was dead.....And I was wrong, Thank God.
We had a brief conversation and he said he was coming back, which he did. He had a problem though, his paperwork had expired for filing for the Hack License. This was worth a phone call or two, which I quickly made and with no resistance a Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission waived renewal requirements and reinstated his application....He was unable to complete this due to his work schedule but was issued another extension by the Deputy Commissioner....This one he finished.
At the end of taxi classes all new applicants are required to pass a test. The tests are given at our school by NY City Taxi & Limousine Commission personnel. On any given Friday there may be as many as one hundred twenty-five people in the room.
This was one such day. As I seated the candidates Anthony came in for his exam, we exchanged hello's and he took his seat.
Right before the exam was about to begin in my remarks to the students I told them of the 911 events of a fellow student, who ran from our building to answer the call. Who had in fact gone to the nearest Manhattan Fire House which happened to be on 30th Street. This was the Fire Company that was all but wiped out as first responders. Luckily for Anthony he was not in that first wave...
When I introduced Anthony the room went wild with Applause. I am talking "Obama Applause" wild...There were tears in Anthony's eyes as he stood up and was honored by more than hundred of his fellow New Yorkers, virtually immigrants all, many, many Muslims, cheering in the moment that could allow them once again to touch the great tragedy in a positive way, as it had touched them in such a profound way, on 911, forever.
It seemed like a few minutes later he came back to tell me another plane had crashed into the other tower......It was an instantaneous clarification....I uttered the words "Bin Laden"....He nodded...
There was a student in my class, an off duty fire fighter, Anthony. After I learned of the second plane I came back and told the class, and asked Anthony specifically if he wanted to leave...It was instinctual, I didn't know anything specific...At that moment his beeper went off, he signed out, and disappeared down the old rickety staircase.
We suspended the class for a while to get the news....The school was on 29th Street in Queens at the intersection of Queensboro Plaza at the foot of the Queens side of the Queensboro Bridge....We walked over to the subway station and went up to the platform and could see the towers burning. It was not long and we could smell it. A stale taste of burnt air and debris kind of grew into the normal breathing quality and you knew it was not going to change anytime soon.
We went back to the taxi school and managed to get a channel on the network news which was talking but know knowing...The phones would not work. We were hearing about the DC and Pennsylvania planes but most potent in the mix of news and events was the bridge...
People were beginning to pour across the bridge from Manhattan on foot.. A sea of humanity, with dazed and confused looks, knowing they needed to get home, a place to sit and rest, time to think....All traffic was stopped from going over the Bridge except emergency vehicles...and the continual sea of humanity
The day continued with no way for most of the students to get home so we sat and talked...Some of the students ventured a hypothesis that it was the Japanese government getting even for the Atom Bombs of World 2...This was put forth seriously..I was in shock and then realized that they felt threatened as Muslims, of a possible Muslim connection...Justifiably...And Anthony was heroically on his way to ground zero....And I wanted to know where my daughter was....and so many other questions...
I tried to make phone calls none of which went through. So I started emailing but the servers were pretty much down or overloaded.....
When the phones were finally back in service, one of the calls I made was to Anthony. I left several messages over the coming weeks. several months later I called again and the number was no longer in service...I didn't know for sure but I kind of knew...He was a nice guy, had been struggling with his bills and so had come to Master Cabbie Taxi Academy to get a Hack license so he could moonlight on his days off as a firefighter.
He was the only American born student in the class that day and mentioned feeling a little out of place. But only In that he was never aware how important it is to so many immigrants to get their Hack License. None of his fellow students would be fireman in this generation. Their turn would come in the children and grand children of thirty and forty years from 2001.
About a year later I was in the classroom and the Office manager came in to tell me I had a phone call.....IT WAS ANTHONY!! I was overjoyed. Jubilant. Ecstatic and any other adjective you care to add to the moment. I was sure he was dead.....And I was wrong, Thank God.
We had a brief conversation and he said he was coming back, which he did. He had a problem though, his paperwork had expired for filing for the Hack License. This was worth a phone call or two, which I quickly made and with no resistance a Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission waived renewal requirements and reinstated his application....He was unable to complete this due to his work schedule but was issued another extension by the Deputy Commissioner....This one he finished.
At the end of taxi classes all new applicants are required to pass a test. The tests are given at our school by NY City Taxi & Limousine Commission personnel. On any given Friday there may be as many as one hundred twenty-five people in the room.
This was one such day. As I seated the candidates Anthony came in for his exam, we exchanged hello's and he took his seat.
Right before the exam was about to begin in my remarks to the students I told them of the 911 events of a fellow student, who ran from our building to answer the call. Who had in fact gone to the nearest Manhattan Fire House which happened to be on 30th Street. This was the Fire Company that was all but wiped out as first responders. Luckily for Anthony he was not in that first wave...
When I introduced Anthony the room went wild with Applause. I am talking "Obama Applause" wild...There were tears in Anthony's eyes as he stood up and was honored by more than hundred of his fellow New Yorkers, virtually immigrants all, many, many Muslims, cheering in the moment that could allow them once again to touch the great tragedy in a positive way, as it had touched them in such a profound way, on 911, forever.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
President Obama Say's "Work hard in Taxi School"
We all work hard in Taxi School...The instructors pulling eight hour days in the classroom and the office staff, one lady answering phones, distributing books and faxing and emailing City offices to keep the data generated and information needed up to date...Even I spend a full 30 hours a week to keep bills paid, payroll, advertizing, blogs in order. and another 16 hours teaching and running exams...All to keep the flow of drivers to the seats of, the ever iconic Yellow Taxi Cabs of New York City, undisturbed...
As President Obama said yesterday to our children "Work hard, don't expect to succeed every time and wash your hands" I agree with these principles.....doesn't everybody?
But I doubt that many people outside our small universe of soon to be taxi drivers know how hard many people work to become taxi drivers....
Many of our students have not been in school since they were children...It's not easy to return..Many from some countries never went to school at all and struggle to grasp the simple vocabulary exams that they must be able to pass...Many are excellent communicators but having English as a second language, speaking it well, but having survied with minimal reading and writing, even after twenty or thirty years hear in the United States...Answering a simple multiple choice question on which of the following is "NOT"true becomes a hurdle..
So it becomes the task of the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy of New York City to structure a path from wanting to drive a taxi to passing a reasonably comprehensive exam that will cause the issuance of the New York City Taxi Operators License, a Hack License....
There are some people that can pass the exams without going to school. It is a small percentage of critical thinkers who know the City well enough to use a process of elimination during the exam and choose the most likely answer. But answering an obvious question about the Empire State Building and knowing which neighborhood holds the intersection of Webster Ave. and Mosholu Parkway are two different worlds of knowlege...So Taxi School is needed.
At the Taxi School though, what we do for the struggling student is our greatest contribution to the New York City Taxi Industry...We take a marginal candidate on paper, one who truly wants to improve his life by taxi driving and move him closer to his goal...There is no more motivated worker than one who sees an opportunity in taxi driving. Rather than a banker that has lost his job, or a school teacher who is moonlighting or on summer vacation..
Don't get me worng.. We need the school teachers and the bankers...They are a very important part of our industry. History tells us however, that when the economy rolls around to recovery the bakers and school teachers will be leaving and the student that struggled through with our help will still be driving a taxicab and happy to do it...
Each has its value, and all work hard....
As President Obama said yesterday to our children "Work hard, don't expect to succeed every time and wash your hands" I agree with these principles.....doesn't everybody?
But I doubt that many people outside our small universe of soon to be taxi drivers know how hard many people work to become taxi drivers....
Many of our students have not been in school since they were children...It's not easy to return..Many from some countries never went to school at all and struggle to grasp the simple vocabulary exams that they must be able to pass...Many are excellent communicators but having English as a second language, speaking it well, but having survied with minimal reading and writing, even after twenty or thirty years hear in the United States...Answering a simple multiple choice question on which of the following is "NOT"true becomes a hurdle..
So it becomes the task of the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy of New York City to structure a path from wanting to drive a taxi to passing a reasonably comprehensive exam that will cause the issuance of the New York City Taxi Operators License, a Hack License....
There are some people that can pass the exams without going to school. It is a small percentage of critical thinkers who know the City well enough to use a process of elimination during the exam and choose the most likely answer. But answering an obvious question about the Empire State Building and knowing which neighborhood holds the intersection of Webster Ave. and Mosholu Parkway are two different worlds of knowlege...So Taxi School is needed.
At the Taxi School though, what we do for the struggling student is our greatest contribution to the New York City Taxi Industry...We take a marginal candidate on paper, one who truly wants to improve his life by taxi driving and move him closer to his goal...There is no more motivated worker than one who sees an opportunity in taxi driving. Rather than a banker that has lost his job, or a school teacher who is moonlighting or on summer vacation..
Don't get me worng.. We need the school teachers and the bankers...They are a very important part of our industry. History tells us however, that when the economy rolls around to recovery the bakers and school teachers will be leaving and the student that struggled through with our help will still be driving a taxicab and happy to do it...
Each has its value, and all work hard....
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Taxi Labor Day, Unemployment Insurance
It is so nice to be in New York City on a "SLOW" day. Except...We don't make any money...Oh sure we do bring home a few dollars but let's face it. It ain't New Ears Eve.
Start the night shift at about 4PM. Head over the bridge and maybe you get a fare at 3rd and 60th. He goes to 73rd and York. Head down and find a nurse coming out of New York Hospital going to Kips Bay. Turn up 1st Ave. and find a visitor coming out of N.Y.U. Medical Center going back to York Ave. at 83rd. Head up to 86th and west, over to Fifth and down. Traffic is not that bad as I come to the low sixties and get past the Plaza.....I'm looking, and there are people out there, walking, but no one's hailing..
I keep heading down. Washington Square???Which way to turn..I'll go left, over to Mercer and down again, past the Angelica and at long last a hail at Prince Street. Three BBQ's heading to Park Slope...Well at least it will be twenty dollars with a decent tip. I hope. Plus Flatbush Ave might yield a fare on the trip back to Mahattan..
And so it goes. Between Thirty and Forty dollars per hour, maybe even more until it slows down around eleven PM. All this, minus the costs of leasing my cab, today $118, and the gas which will cost about $35 unless I'm lucky and get a Jersey City fare and fill the gas tank at Jersey prices.
You know, it seems like an easy job. In fact it is an easy job for me. But, alot of people don't make it past the first shift because they don't know how to drive, have no people skills, and probably don't like New York all that much...You can't mind eating on the run..You have to be able to control your bladder, and be able to deal with tbe lulls and the busy times...and understand that...If the car is empty, I am unemployed. Do all this, and keep at it, and you can make FIFTY THOUSAND a year....Buy a cab and you can make sixty-five....Buy a medallion and over ten years you can make a million. But if the cab is empty I am unemployed.....Unemployed...until the next fare.
I love New York City. I love being a taxi driver and enjoy the action on the streets...Is there stress?? You betcha! Are the passengers all a fun group? Most of them are..... Is traffic a bumber??? Not If you know what's coming and are prepared for the grind....Cops, ticket agents, know it all wantabe lawyers who tell us what we are supposed to do, all add tension to the day.....But in the end the sounds of the City become what I HEAR AND NOT WHAT I AM as I make my way home to my railroad flat in Queens....lock the door, turn on the tube and chill with a beer....domestic....maybe two or three.
Start the night shift at about 4PM. Head over the bridge and maybe you get a fare at 3rd and 60th. He goes to 73rd and York. Head down and find a nurse coming out of New York Hospital going to Kips Bay. Turn up 1st Ave. and find a visitor coming out of N.Y.U. Medical Center going back to York Ave. at 83rd. Head up to 86th and west, over to Fifth and down. Traffic is not that bad as I come to the low sixties and get past the Plaza.....I'm looking, and there are people out there, walking, but no one's hailing..
I keep heading down. Washington Square???Which way to turn..I'll go left, over to Mercer and down again, past the Angelica and at long last a hail at Prince Street. Three BBQ's heading to Park Slope...Well at least it will be twenty dollars with a decent tip. I hope. Plus Flatbush Ave might yield a fare on the trip back to Mahattan..
And so it goes. Between Thirty and Forty dollars per hour, maybe even more until it slows down around eleven PM. All this, minus the costs of leasing my cab, today $118, and the gas which will cost about $35 unless I'm lucky and get a Jersey City fare and fill the gas tank at Jersey prices.
You know, it seems like an easy job. In fact it is an easy job for me. But, alot of people don't make it past the first shift because they don't know how to drive, have no people skills, and probably don't like New York all that much...You can't mind eating on the run..You have to be able to control your bladder, and be able to deal with tbe lulls and the busy times...and understand that...If the car is empty, I am unemployed. Do all this, and keep at it, and you can make FIFTY THOUSAND a year....Buy a cab and you can make sixty-five....Buy a medallion and over ten years you can make a million. But if the cab is empty I am unemployed.....Unemployed...until the next fare.
I love New York City. I love being a taxi driver and enjoy the action on the streets...Is there stress?? You betcha! Are the passengers all a fun group? Most of them are..... Is traffic a bumber??? Not If you know what's coming and are prepared for the grind....Cops, ticket agents, know it all wantabe lawyers who tell us what we are supposed to do, all add tension to the day.....But in the end the sounds of the City become what I HEAR AND NOT WHAT I AM as I make my way home to my railroad flat in Queens....lock the door, turn on the tube and chill with a beer....domestic....maybe two or three.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tuesday Back To New York City Taxi School
Someplace in ancient History a war ended on this day.. And another began. It was the Big one ending and the Big one beginning. from 1945 through 1964 (Baby Boom) the children of Amercia's great generation came to know a country that offered much in opportunity for the disciplined protagonist and the ruthless, shameless promoter.
In our teens and early twenties we marched on Washington to tell the powers that be we do not want to die in your war...We do not want to work in your corporations and we do not want to have to live in your suburbs, and wear your IBM suits and a miriad of other complaints made by a dynamic youthful citiznery.
Now....We are Washington..We are the corporations...We are the suburbs and we mostly adhere to the modern version of the IBM suit....
What we have learned is that we have to do it for ourselves...Do What??? Everything!!There is need for community but as soon as the term community is invoked someone is trying to outposition us for a piece of a pie that may not even be apparent to us...
Rich, poor, foolish, unlucky all have a place at the table and a right to some piece of the community pie....But WE THE BABY BOOMERS with our inalienable rights have steered this ship to this time and place. WE ARE NOW THE TAXI DRIVERS of the American Universe and we all know how much the meter reads at the end of the trip..BUT WE ARE NOT ALONE are we?
If you want to take a taxi always remember the ditty from teh 30's "A Rich Man Takes a taxi and a Poor Man takes a Train. A Hobo walks the railroad tracks and gets there just the same."
In our teens and early twenties we marched on Washington to tell the powers that be we do not want to die in your war...We do not want to work in your corporations and we do not want to have to live in your suburbs, and wear your IBM suits and a miriad of other complaints made by a dynamic youthful citiznery.
Now....We are Washington..We are the corporations...We are the suburbs and we mostly adhere to the modern version of the IBM suit....
What we have learned is that we have to do it for ourselves...Do What??? Everything!!There is need for community but as soon as the term community is invoked someone is trying to outposition us for a piece of a pie that may not even be apparent to us...
Rich, poor, foolish, unlucky all have a place at the table and a right to some piece of the community pie....But WE THE BABY BOOMERS with our inalienable rights have steered this ship to this time and place. WE ARE NOW THE TAXI DRIVERS of the American Universe and we all know how much the meter reads at the end of the trip..BUT WE ARE NOT ALONE are we?
If you want to take a taxi always remember the ditty from teh 30's "A Rich Man Takes a taxi and a Poor Man takes a Train. A Hobo walks the railroad tracks and gets there just the same."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
