Two City Council members are working on a bailout plan for taxi-medallion owners who say their livelihoods have been destroyed by ride-share apps.
Ydanis Rodriguez — who heads the council’s Transportation committee — and Ruben Diaz Sr. want the city to give money to owners who sank their life savings into buying a medallion, whose value has plummeted from a high of about $1.2 million in 2011 to $250,000 now.
The plan would emulate bailouts some homeowners got amid the 2008 economic crisis, said Rodriguez rep Maria Henderson.
The councilmen also want to waive fees and reduce fines that the drivers owe the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
“We need to take immediate action,” Henderson said. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time and something needs to be done. We don’t want to see another driver take his or her own life.”
Several taxi and livery drivers have committed suicide in the past year and a half as a result of the industry’s financial crisis. Many cabbies blame city politicians for not taking more action against the ride-share companies, which, having to deal with fewer regulations than taxi operators, have deeply cut into the profits of traditional for-hire vehicles. The city moved to cap the number of app-hail cars last summer, but by then, there were nearly 120,000 on the road.
TLC officials argued that the agency has already taken steps to ease the pain.
“Across the industries we regulate, the TLC has right-sized fines after significant analysis, and launched new enforcement initiatives with periods of education and warning wherever possible,” said agency spokeswoman Rebecca Harshbarger.
It’s the first major proposal from the council to help the taxi industry since City Council Speaker Corey Johnson killed Diaz’s for-hire-vehicle committee last week over his homophobic comments.
The axing of the committee caused some taxi drivers and medallion owners to fear that their struggle would get less attention.
Drivers say they want the city to go beyond giving them cash and to buy back their medallions.
Additional reporting by Sydney Denmark