It’s hard to imagine how brother Kim is fighting for his life,
and the assailant has been released on $10,000 bail.
- Bhairavi Desai, New York Taxi Workers Alliance
Actually, it’s pretty easy to imagine. In America, life is cheap, guns are cherished, violence is a way of life, and in a nation of immigrants, the white man’s burden does not extend to people of pigment, recently arrived from foreign shores. Likewise, taxi cab drivers are widely viewed by nativist New Yorkers of all races, religions and creeds as Chinks, Towel-Heads, Sand Niggers, low-life rip-off artists…
Nor do such ugly attitudes fail to impact the lives of those beige souls, born upon these shores, who endeavor to scratch out a living, serve the public, and get home to see their families. 
Back in the mid-1980s, working on my second extended stint as a yellow cabbie, sharing the weekly lease with a day man who lived in the Village, I had the misfortune to endure a savage beat-down because of legal strictures, born of insurance regulations, the observance of which continues to threaten the sanity and safety of cab drivers who find themselves confronted by hostile passengers who presume we are simply being dickish.
Late one night down on Church Ave (that is to say, Sixth Avenue below Canal), I had come to a stop at a red light, with my doors unlocked, as we are mandated to do by TLC regulators (who have never gazed face to face at the business end of a gun). Well, a sextet of male and female Jersey Guernseys, bridge and tunnel types of mixed Irish and Italian heritage—including one rather large African-American brother with a neck which suggested something akin to a Doric Column, let alone the prodigious dimensions of a Mike Tyson—came whooping into my cab, giddy with drink, two in the front seat and four in the back.
At which point—stop me if you’ve heard this one before—I was compelled to inform them that I could only legally accommodate four passengers. Here we go. “Oh, you can take us if you want to.”
“And why wouldn’t I want to? The problem is you see that rate card? Well, God forbid, if we were to get into an accident, and you were somehow injured, because there were more than four passengers in the cab, you would have no liability coverage.”
Further cajoling, with promises of massive tips and thinly veiled suggestions as to my sexual orientation followed, and when I finally—CONCLUSIVELY—explained for the umpteenth time that it was illegal, with much gnashing of teeth and the ceremonial rejoinder of “Fuck you, you fat cocksucker” they exited my cab—pointedly leaving all of the passenger doors open as a final expression of disdain for my arbitrary douche-baggery.
[Sigh.] And so, out I went wearily into the night to shutter my doors, first on the driver’s side, then on the passenger’s side. Turning on my heels after having closed the right rear side door, hovering head and shoulders above me, sucking menacingly on his teeth, stands Mike Tyson Junior—clearly seeking to intimidate me. I looked balefully at him, said nothing, and moved to walk around him, but clearly he wanted to precipitate some sort of psychic smack-down, and he blocked my path. At this point, an older black driver in a cab pulled up next to us and in deadly earnest told me, “Young man, walk away, get back into your cab, and drive off.”
Solid advice, but by now it was too late. Mike Tyson Junior was right in my grille, to the point where I could feel his breath on my cheek. My options were limited.
If the NRA was advising me, they would invoke the STAND YOUR GROUND LAW and consul me to pull my piece and plug this street meat; while implicit in TLC regulations, is the notion that as a law abiding cabbie I should simply accept my beat-down in the spirit in which it was offered. While I was contemplating my options, Tyson Junior laid his hands on me in a manner clearly intended to punk me. Again, I did not respond in kind, but told him not to put his hands on me, at which point he shoved me, hard; I shoved him back, and he proceeded to pop me with a hellacious haymaker to the nose.
I saw birdies and found myself grappling pathetically with this shtarker. The most telling blow I landed was when this bully-boy broke his hand on my head. By now I was down on the ground and in walking away, as he grasped his hand in anguish, he kicked me viciously in the shoulder, as one of his Guido Homies snarled derisively: “He got what he deserved.”
I have always been grateful to Tyson Junior for choosing to merely kick me in the shoulder. It hurt for six months thereafter, but I counted myself lucky; if he had gone so far as to kick me in the face, I suspect that spitting blood and teeth, I might’ve dragged my ass up off of the pavement, gotten back in my cab in a primal rage, done a 180o, and run him over with my car, a moronic response worthy of my senseless beat-down, in which case, my life would’ve for all intents and purposes been over—save for becoming some other bully’s Maytag serving hard time for manslaughter.
Likewise, I was always grateful—despite what some drivers have suggested, without a hint of irony—that I was not packing a piece. Or as Harry Carey’s Marshall, Wistful McClintock, intoned at the conclusion of THE ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (watching John Wayne’s reformed Quirt Evans character ride off to take up the peaceful life of a farmer with his anti-violence Quaker wife-to-be): “Only a man who carries a gun ever needs one.”
Am I preaching against self-defense? Of course not, but what good would a gun do: If cabbies were packing, would not the temptation to answer stupidity with violence (or violence with stupidity) simply prove overwhelming?
Actually, I am not suggesting a damn thing; I am simply reacting pitifully to YELLOW CAB NYC: With Beaten Cabbie Still In Coma, Advocates Call For Laws to Protect Cabbies. Key Chun Kim, an émigré from Korea, with fifteen years experience as a cab driver, had the gumption to confront a fare-beater, and was beaten half-to-death for his trouble. What’s a driver to do? Well, as forum poster Common Sence suggested, quite rationally: “This is not to take blame away from the assailant, but, I learned a long time ago to never confront a fare beater. It’s best to just let it go. That’s the best way to stay out of trouble and stay safe.”
Because the notion that those sensitive souls at the Taxi & Limousine Commission or the politicians in the City Council or State Legislature are going to advance any sort of meaningful regulations to protect cab drivers, is wishful thinking at best, considering the anti-immigrant/anti-cabbie dog whistles emanating from editorial boards and the office of his highness the Emperor Bloomberg, hollow be his game…all men.
The bottom line is that cab drivers need to remain wary and vigilant, while at the same time not tossing out the baby with the bathwater.
Heads they win, tails you lose. There is such a fine line we are forced to walk every time we go out, between self-preservation, and the onerous burden which the TLC places on drivers, which militates against self-preservation, and mandates that in any and all confrontations, the cab driver is presumed guilty until proven innocent. And fat chance of that at a TL C Hearing before some Star Chamber political hacker, looking on the whole to chastise drivers, and take in revenues for this sea lamprey city agency.
The bottom line is that in lieu of experience—and this Korean brother had 15 years experience—in lieu of learning to read the streets and exercising due diligence, drivers simply have to do whatever they have to in order to protect themselves—TLC regulations be damned.
Carrying a gun? Ridiculous. Carrying a hammer as another poster suggested? I don’t know; I suppose if that makes him feel more secure on the night side, whatever, but do you think the TLC would sympathize if you were called before the tribunal and invoked self-defense?
Use some discretion, and some uncommon sense. Someone beats you for a fare, are you going to risk your life for a lousy twenty bucks? Better to feel like home-made shit, than to be laid out unconscious tethered to this mortal coil on a respirator.
There are no hard and fast rules, and while I am very down on those cabbies who drive around with their doors locked and their off-duty signs illuminated as a pretext to pick and choose from fares, still, if you are feeling unsafe or unsure, well, go-ahead, lock your damn doors. If you get an authentically creepy vibe from someone, if you ain’t sure, if your gut says THIS IS A WRONG DUDE, better to step on the gas and drive away. Better to hire a lawyer to represent you and roll the dice on a TLC Hearing, than to have Bloomberg consoling your widow at a graveside ceremony.
Likewise, if a drunken, congenitally white plutocrat gets in your cab, high on his own bad Morgan Stanley-self, and pronounces his desire to, oh-BOY-oh-BOY, is this ever my lucky day, take a cab ride to Connecticut…after you’ve agreed on a flat rate, do make sure to preclude any subsequent misunderstandings by Getting Paid UP FRONT; if he bristles at your impudence, invite him to try another cab and wish him a pleasant evening. Far better to toss this fish back, then to have him wake up in his driveway and decide that I ain’t going to pay you no $204, here’s $50, like it or lump it, you Muslim jackal, and—hiccup—I’m a gonna slash your palm with a pen knife for good measure. Help…police!
Really, the sad reality is that, in lieu of any legislation, or video cameras—let alone those crappy, useless partitions—we are ON OUR OWN. Arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, 28-year-old Andrew McElroy lays a near fatal beat-down on poor Mister Kim, who remains close to death in a coma weeks later, and yet the judge lets him walk on a $10,000 bond? Are you kidding me? Does that give y’all some idea as to the no regard-low regard with which hard working émigrés to these shores are adjudged by the NYC Judicial System, let alone our dilettante Mayor and his TLC flunkies? Go back where you came from.
Have mercy. Pray for Brother Key Chun Kim, but arm yourself not with guns and hammers…rather with mother wit, cool discretion and common sense. Better to get beat for a fare than to get savagely beaten. As hard as it is to make a buck in this funky-butt occupation of ours, and as demeaning, as galling, as pathetic as it makes one feel—SOMETHING LESS THAN A MAN–to have well-heeled punks and low-class deadbeats take off without paying, nevertheless, try to remember that it’s only money—IT’S ONLY MONEY.
Move on, my brothers. There will be a new dawn tomorrow.
Some people love the sound of their own voice.
Save your life and license – don’t work nights. Finish 10 p.m. the latest .Laws are against you. Only with proper protection and set of right laws it’s worth taking a chance, otherwise you will face the consequences of dealing with drunks and other trash
Let them stand in a bitter cold for hours trying to get a cab with trains and buses not running, maybe that will make’em to come up with the set of new laws.
I don’t get it why someone would go and work a night shift everyday just to bring a 100$
and pay gas and give ride to criminals and pay lease to other criminals>I am not giving away my life and work for someone a night shift so he can sleep and make money while sleeping. are you guys out of your minds,dont you just think about it.if you lucky within the job then night shift and city pollution and lack of oxygene plus body vibrations and stress can take your life slowly,be carefull out there everything is your enemy when driving the yellow garbage can..
Never had any problem in nyc, driving a cab? …I never forced anybody to pay me in the last 8 years, but I lost so much due to no payment, but those people who refused to pay didn’t have money or had family issues, but in general, people are good they pay, and say thank you. I never fought, black or white and others never had any problem, thanks god, I am lucky maybe, but this is the truth. Never show your passenger a hate or unwilling to take him. Always be nice because people do have hearths and your job as a cabbie is get their hearth to work.
The only incidents I coudn’t forget, is when my meter run out of the paper and didn’t have extra, I coudn’t print a receipts for the Asian woman and her boy friend who looks Italian or jew in Williamsburg and they refused to pay me the fare.
And I also remember one night I took a black young male from Colombus circle to down town Brooklyn and he said please wait for me I get you the money, but never came back and I left.
White or spanish looking, I took him from 14st and 9 ave to Bronx, he drunk and he was drunk and giving me wrong directions ’till the meter reached 50$ and refused to pay me, but I told him pay me $35 and he did, and he said thank you and he left.
An other guy that I pickup at Washington Hights at night and drop him at 555 Grand Concourse in Bronx, he was very clean man, good looking, told me to wait but never showed up, but one guy told me there, hey cabbie, I know that guy, he does it everyday, don’t wait for him.
The only one is hurt the cab driver, I pick them up from lower east side he was a young guy with a black girl with long hair, they had two stops one in times sq and an other on 23st and seventh ave, the meter was 25$ and he gave me a new printed 20$ fake. I didn’t pay attention the print was same as the real one.
An other person that I picked up from Bedford ave and Dekalb in Brooklyn took him for few blocks but he really tricked me with a fifty dollars fake bill.
Be carefull cabbies out there. We only have partition, so keep it closed.
Thanks Chip! Sometimes I worry my wisdom falls on deaf ears.
BTW: You do know who I am. If I ever see you I’ll let you know.
You cannot recommend common sense as long as you fail to display it yourself. The picture of Zimmerman and the dead drug addict is offensive and defamatory. In all aspects, it presents a falsehood. If you do not realize it, you are a fool. If you do, you should go into politics.
You cannot recommend common sense as long as you fail to display it yourself. The picture of Zimmerman and the dead drug addict is offensive and defamatory. In all aspects, it presents a falsehood. If you do not realize it, you are a fool. If you do, you should go into politics.
Dear Tourist of the Year,
What on earth are you trying to say?
Common Sense…..
That was foul…..
you are a COWARD for blaming this horrific problem
on the victim.
Mr. Key Chun Kim was a Artist & Poet by day, a cab driver by night. An unidentified Navy Seal attacked Mr. Kim. Andrew McElroy isn’t his real name as they are protecting his identity…
you talk about how the tlc gives cabbies no rights. yet you stand by everything that is corrupt about this system. What a total disrespect to Mr. Kim.
Much Respect & love to Mr. Kim hope he will recover soon.
Knuckleheads like this is why I stopped driving nights.
I was wondering what action will TLC take if Yassky or the TLC inspector got beaten up like brother Kim?
WTF?: You are in dire need of a remedial reading course and a deep colonic if you came through that article and concluded that I was in any way, shape or form blaming the victim of the beating for taking a beating. My heart goes out to any and all drivers who must weigh the pluses and minuses of confronting people who first seek to beat them out of their money, and then beat them senseless because they figure the driver had it coming…like the beating I took for refusing to break the law and take six passengers in a cab only permitted to accept four. Mr. Kim did nothing “wrong” and we are not “blaming” him for complicity in his beating…we are just passing along what any old timer would tell to their fellow drivers–and Brother Kim has fifteen years experience–which is that it ain’t worth it, and you could get hurt. Again, let us reiterate, our prayers go out to Mister Kim, in our hopes for a speedy and full recovery; likewise, we hope that the animal who did this to him gets the hard time and public approbation he deserves. We also wish you the best WTF, though, alas, there is no cure for stupid.
wow, what a horrible job.
Tourist Of The Year?
More like redneck of the year.
So the victim was a druggie in your estimation and Mister Stand Your Ground is a hero?
Good to know. Remind me to fumigate my cab after you leave, pond scum.
Few sucking ideas:
1- TLC Chairman Yasky has 8 or 9 white marshmellow commissioners assisting him for regulating the taxi industry. I strongly recommend that these soft marshmellow commissioners to drive a yellow cab for a period of 3 months before being appointed to the job. I am possitive and willing to bet all my money that they will urinate and do the other one from the back in their pants at the end of shift number one.
2- All fucking yellow cabs to be equiped with voice tape recorder with live video being taken during each and every trip. in case of misconduct, the driver or passenger to be punished severly. In the cith of New York, being run and controlled by sick in the head liberal democrats, i doubt condition #2 to take place.
3- All taxi drivers get united and strike against medallion owners, sucking brokers and TLC. We the drivers can make them urinate in their pants. ONLY IF DRIVERS GET TOGETHER WITH STRONG UNION. Just dont drive for a week for garages and see the result you IDIOT TAXI DRIVER!
4- I was in London and interviewd taxi drivers infront of my hotel PENTA in Lexington area. I was told that 95% of proffessional black cab drivers are owner-operators. A black taxi driver in London makes more money than a doctor or accountant! the public has tremendous respect for them. SO, WHO IS THE REAL TAXI DRIVERS ENEMY?
THE NYC GOVERNMENT, TLC THAT IS. Wake up baby.
The problem it seems to me is lack of a strong union for cabbies. Obviously a taxi strike will not work because there will always be cabbies who will work out of greed or necessity which defeats the whole purpose. But maybe there is a way to disrupt the city: Have you guys ever thought of going on strike against specific areas? For example avoiding Penn Station at all costs which to me is absolutely logical as the abuse cabbies are given over there by the cops is insane. For example, in one stop a few years ago by Penn station a cop gave me TEN points in tickets which if you can believe it I am still fighting.
To me if somebody can organize a protest effectively where all cabbies can be convinced to avoid Penn Station, Grand central, Port authority, all the main terminals for weeks even months, that would f**k up the city so much the city might actually start to agree to some demands.
I think you would still get cabbies hitting those places but if it can be significantly reduced it would cause quite a bit of problems.
Nazis not only robbed everyone, but also wanted their victims to be dead. It’s the worst type of sub humans. Moron refused to pay his fare, hit the driver so hard with the intend to kill and this human trash walks the streets of NYC ? Law abiding New Yorkers will take driver to court if he’ll try to overcharge $5. Where are you now?Where are the protests/All of you are full of SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!
Low pay-fine, crazy hours – heavy fines, tickets, fare beaters – that’s fine, getting killed – fine, taxi murderers go free-fine too? Where will it end? If you believe that your life is so miserable, why don’t you all jump from the bridge? If you think that you were brought to this life for a reason, maybe you should stop for a second and think of what is going on? Maybe it’s time to stop the endless abuse, and maybe it’s time for politicians tell us what are they getting paid for, and if they can not do their job maybe somebody else can?
No justice , no cabs
Chip Stern, you are such a good writer.
Chip Stern, have you thought about using your talent for literary works like Gaito Gazdanov, cabdriver of Paris in 1930s. Here is a link for inspiration.
http://www.taxi-library.org/culture.htm
Learn to play poker.when cards don’t come-leave, tough table-leave, bad mood- leave. Only when things go your way stick all money in. Taxi job is for suckers , pros play games.
Americans are teaching the rest of the world of how to live. Look at your taxi business. 12 hours of work to make$100 half of which is spent while getting and doing the job. Look for the log in your eye before you seek a splint in someone’s else.
http://www.taxi-library.org/culture.htm
Thanks for the link to the World of Taxi web site. Very interesting.
And thanks for the kind words. I’ve been a professional writer, mostly freelancing about music, since 1977.
My mother, only half in jest, once asked me to wait until she had passed on before penning “your novel” as she was not looking forward to a format in which I was judge, jury and executioner.
I reassured her that in my first draft she was concealed in both a bear skin and antlers, so that there was no chance anyone would recognize her.
The things we do for our loved ones. Any word from anyone as to how Mister Kim is doing?
Just cabby? Chip is a multi-faceted gem. You should check out his “Epicenter of Hip” music website.
Nice article sorry about the ass kicking that was served to you. I drive nights and carry hammer lol but as a female driver there are way more things we have to look for. I try to avoid drunk hailers by pulling way pay them to see if they can walk straight and also if there are any other passengers waiting with them but in hiding. My doors are automatically locked (not my doing but I love it) which protects me against folks that try to jump in catching me unaware. If the MTA can collect that fifty cents from us then they should protect us just like they do for their workers! They are making us collect like we work for them then they should help us at least. for us