Whether you’re gay, straight or anything else, you have the right to ride in a cab, an angry Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday in response to the hack who booted a same-sex couple from his taxi because they were hugging.
“I thought the taxi driver’s behavior — if it is as reported — was a disgrace,” Bloomberg said.
“Somebody’s orientation has absolutely nothing to do with whether they can ride a taxi. That kind of attitude doesn’t fit with what this city’s become,” Bloomberg scolded.
Medhat Mohamed kicked Paul Bruno and Bruno’s boyfriend out of his yellow cab in the East Village on Monday night after he spotted the duo canoodling in the back seat.
The couple called it discrimination, but the driver claimed he feared they were about to have sex while he was driving.
“I wanted to pay attention to getting them to their destination instead of worrying if they were going to have sex or not,” Mohamed said.
He insisted he is not anti-gay.
Bloomberg said the hack should have focused more on the road and less on the back seat.
“I don’t know the facts or what the cabdriver said. I’m just telling you that a cabdriver shouldn’t worry about the orientation of the people that get in the taxi cab,” he said.
“The cabdriver’s job is to get them there safely, as expeditiously as possible.”
Bloomberg even plugged the taxi industry, saying, “Hopefully, the cabdriver makes a good living because we want more people to become cabdrivers.”
But it was unclear whether Mohamed would be behind the wheel for much longer.
Taxi and Limousine Commission agents were investigating, and sources said Mohamed could face charges of refusing service, discourtesy and acting against the best interest of the public.
If convicted, he would face a fine of several hundred dollars on each charge, and the TLC would try to toss his license.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn called on the city’s Commission on Human Rights to levy charges.
“Its outrageous,” she said. “If true, it’s a clear violation of city human-rights law.”
TLC chief Matthew Daus said that drivers do need to look out for their own safety, but that they should “have some discretion. In cases of disorderly passengers, there has to be some clear and logical rationale to the judgment. An trained administrative law judge will make a determination as to whether this did or did not occur.”
tom.namako@nypost.com
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot...
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Drivers are exhorted to stay alert and mind what is going on in the back seat. But now… if they look like they are about to have sex in the cab, the driver must stop paying attention?
The city “officials” are acting overly paternalistic and punative. Gays and straight folks should conduct themselves with some dignity and be ashamed of themselves when they don’t.
If the driver suffers any penalty he should find a good lawyer. How does Dan Ackman feel about this?
The long and the short of it?
This cab driver is an idiot.
When was the last time anyone had sex in the back of your cab?
Puh-leeeeese…
Chip, I don’t recall the date but I assure its happened, more than a few times over the many years. Cut this guy some slack. You weren’t there, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.
Abie, there are other ways to handle things than to jump to conclusions and toss people from the cab. I had two folks light up some smokes on my last shift, and I let them know in no uncertain terms to toss the butts immediately, that it is illegal, rude to our fellow passengers and that I was not pleased as I opened up all the windows. When they backed off, I backed off, and we moved on. Both fares tipped me. Generously. They were buzzed, okay.
Where this cabbie’s passengers actually copulating? No. He thought they were preparing to copulate and took pre-emptive action.
How about making a joke: “Excuse me, but y’all are fogging up the windows…I think you folks might want to get a room…” Or just interrrupt them: “Excuse me gentlemen, what was that address again?” Or open up all of the windows on a cold night. “Getting kind of hot in here, huh?”
I had a couple of gay men in my cab last week, one from out of town (California) with a bag of White Castle grub, the other of a more effeminate nature and three sheets to the wind from booze. When I found the latter’s block in Williamsburg, he directed me to the proper house by urging me to “Keep going honey, keep going, keep going honey…”
“Sir, you’re making me blush.” His friend laughed, I got a nice tip, end of story.
Cut him some slack? Why, when our collective light is judged by the dimmest bulbs amongst us. As a rule, we should treat fares with respect, and adjudge them as human beings, until they prove otherwise.
The person who should have been cutting someone some slack was the cabbie–his reaction was over the top. We don’t have that luxury as cabbies, as independent contractors dealing with the riding public.
Mohammad is likely not homophobic per se, but he is surely guilty of typecasting based on caricatures and ignorance. He demonstrated poor judgement and a lack of discretion. I’ve had people get hot and heavy over the years,
That’s the long answer. The short answer?
He’s an idiot.
Chip, I agree with you that the drivers reaction may have been little over the top. I wasn’t saying that throwing them out of the taxi was proper. You are right about the way it should have been handled. But keep in mind that neither of us were there. Also, we don’t know just how much experience this driver has. Sometimes experience is the best teacher. We all have to learn from our mistakes.
Throwing people out of the taxi is another subject all in it self. I can probably count on my fingers the times I felt it was absolutely necessary to do so. So, I know how to handle just about every situation.
I think the last time I tossed a passenger was at least 15 years ago, It was around 1 am and three girls were in a major hurry to get to one of those all night discos. They were yelling at me to speed, I ignored them. But when we stopped for a light on 79th on Broadway they insisted that I run the red light, I had all I could stand. I pulled the taxi over and announced the ride was over. They were abusive and couldn’t be reasoned with. I didn’t think I had to put up with it. I challenge any one to disagree!
No disagreement from me, dear Abie (a pun,,,so sue me). Yes that speeding issue comes up every now and then. I can recall two incidents in the past year. One was a 20-something black girl I took from the west side to the east side. “You could have made that light.” I tried to keep it light. “You wanted want to drive with a cabbie that was that reckless, would you?” I quipped. “Yes I would.” She tipped me ZERO on her credit card. Have a nice day.
The other was a high testosterone male on 23rd Street. Which gets kind of dicey because of all the turns on to the avenues. “Can’t you go any faster?” Apparently not. A minute latter, “You could have made that light.”
Sir, you are way out of line.
“I have a right to comment on your driving.”
Wrong: you have a right to tell me what your preference is as to the route—you have no right to sit in the back seat kibitzing me about my driving, or to heckle me about driving faster.
“I can comment if you are dawdling.”
Sir, you are welcome to leave. I’m going 30 mph when traffic allows, and that’s the NYC speed limit. I drive as fast as I feel is prudent. I’m not going to debate you, sir. You are in the wrong. Chill.
He did chill and actually tipped me as I recall.
One John Q. Wallstreet in a thousand dollar suit I picked up going south on Water Street at 5:30PM a two springs ago wanted to go to the Upper East Side and he “instructed me” to make a U-Turn. I refused, he insisted, I noted that it was reckless and illegal, he said that other drivers did it…[sigh] Please note that he never gave me an address, which he is supposed to. If he wouldn’t have been such a self-inflated dick, he would’ve learned about South Street going north, the more favorable timing of the red lights and of the entrance ramp to…THE FDR DRIVE [ta-dah]. Instead, he kept hectoring me, and I went down a block, and pulled over to the curve.
Sir, you need to get another cab.
“Well, I’ll just take your number. I have a right to ask about the route.”
You certainly do, but you have no right to insist that I break the law. Have a nice evening. %$#%!
The drivers actions do not make him “anti-gay”. Why do his actions make him guilty? Because he is a cab driver? The behavior in the back f the cab can cause an accident. Also, most drivers worry about anything that may cause him to not be able to drive (while still being responsible for the lease payment and his/her family), such as vandalism or unsanitary conditions created by sexual conduct or drinking.
I have had to tell some passengers to stop what they were doing in the back of the cab, or have had to remove them from the cab. All it takes is a phone call to these white-collar superior regulators and I am guilty!
Steve, I feel your pain, life is unfair, and the TLC is often insensitive to the realities of our existence, but I never said the driver was anti-gay or guilty. I said he was an idiot.
As Abie points out, quite rightly, a lack of experience is a more likely and fairer assessment…which I am sure some hack on the taxi troth at LaGuardia College will reason justifies us paying him for his “expertise” in cab driving to take one of those useless “continuing education” courses.
How about talking with some older and more experienced drivers, like Abie?
This is a hard often thankless job, but in my dotage I have come to control my temper…mostly. When I was younger I would just go with the emotions of the moment and immediately ascend to DEATHCON EIGHT.
I find that 99% of the time, if you remain cool, and use some tact and a little psychology, things chill out, and you end up not with an incident, but with a tip. I had a passenger the other night, a persnickety, zaftig female I took from Wall Street and Water Street to Rutland and Rogers off of Flatbush around 7:00PM. She was very passive aggressive and uptight, and would only feed me my route instructions at the last minute…I could not wait to get this woman out of my cab, but the ruder and colder she got, the more polite I got—figured I would kill her with kindness. Even wished her a happy holiday (as I do all my passengers this time of year) when I got to her doorstep: $21.60 on the meter (minus 0.50 to the MTA) and a $2.00 tip on her credit card (minus 5% right off the top in service fees)…a tip rather than a TLC complaint about a rude driver with potential racial overtones.
And what behavior in back of the cab can cause an accident. Were they handling nuclear waste? Jumping up and down on the back seat? A couple of adult men canoodling? GROW UP.
Unsanitary conditions due to drinking? Most people at night are a little buzzed, I mean, really. However, you can LEGALLY refuse that fare according to TLC regulations and you can LEGALLY toss them if they are so inebriated you are afraid that they will get sick (let alone they can’t even find their wallet or communicate with you). That’s why I won’t drive on New Year’s Eve—it ain’t worth it, and I am not going to be one of those cabbies who turns on their off-duty light and rips people off by behaving like a black car driver making illegal street pick-ups and charging the poor suckers whatever they think they can get away with.
Many times people want you to take five passengers in a cab insurance regulations insist is only legal to take four (or five if it is a child under seven on an adult’s lap). That comes up a lot. Personally, I think this is outdated and silly (you can easily accommodate four people in the back of a Crown Vic, and the cage partition on a Ford Escape is far more dangerous than one extra passenger in the back)
But then when you try and explain to passengers that in case of an accident, they have no liability coverage, your medallion owner has no insurance coverage, and thereafter YOU HAVE NO JOB, they’ll go, “We’ll give you a good tip.”
Then you can afford to take two cabs.
“It’s only a few blocks.”
I’m sorry, but am I using big words? OUT!
Having gone back and forth here, and having experienced the TLC Hearing Process myself, I wish the brother luck, and hope that he gets some representation and a fair hearing.
Look, the bottom line here is that we are human, and sometimes our emotions get the better of us.
But that is a luxury we cannot indugle.
On one hand we are private contractors.
On the other hand we are quasi-public employees, subject to government oversight and regulations.
The implcations of even the smallest most supercillious confrontation can lead to dire repercussions .
None of us like taking crap from people, but the reality is that unlike the American Justice System, the TLC administrative system seemingly presumes us guilty until proven innocent, the logic being that THESE PEOPLE WOULDN’T TAKE THE TROUBLE TO EVEN SHOW UP FOR A HEARING IF THE DRIVER WERE NOT AT FAULT.
Given that reality, I am not making an argument for behaving like push-overs, but for showing some discretion and judgement like you might with an unruly child.
Easier said than done, to be sure, but what choice do we have? We are not driving for the love of people, even though people are generally the best thing about this job…but they can also be the worse thing.
Surprisingly, most people are really pretty cool, but when they are not, it is our responsibility–to ourselves and to our families–to be bigger than some abusive or unruly individuals.
Unless you want to end up in the jackpot like this poor schlemiel, with the Mayor and the City Council President herself, a gay woman, playing to their constituency–as well they might.
Take a deep breath next time, and consider how fragile is our existence, and how even one mis-step can land you in a world of shit.
PS: Those of you drivers who have conflicted feelings about gay men (or women) need to get a grip. Also, among those who work the night line, gay men are often part of the same service industry culture as we are.
Late at night, who would I rather pick up than a waiter/waitress, a bartender, a chef…they often see the same customers we see, and have tip-dependent incomes.
Often they are also working to support their aspirations in the arts, such as musicians and those pursuing careers in theater and dance. Sometimes people in theater and dance are gay, as are people in fashion. Traditionally in Manhattan, a lot of the late night club scene has a large gay component.
Gay people have experienced all forms of discrimation, not unlike many of our brother cab drivers of different racial backgrounds and different religions and from different cultures.
As such, in my experience, they are generally good-natured and good-humored, and they can be a lot of fun as passengers. They also often have a tendecy to share a sense of who they are with others…kind of like how a proud father might want to share a picture of his newborn.
Well, maybe that’s a stretch. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that gays consitute some of our best fares, can be a lot of fun, and are just folks like the rest of us–HELLO!
Concentrating on the sexual side of their psyche is silly. Are we going to toss every quote-unquote “straight couple” who are dong a little kissy-poo in the back seat. Hell, watch some Hollywood movies–the back seats of cabs are ideal for a little light foreplay.
Makes you uncomfortable? Open the window, turn on some music, give yourself some distance. Give them some distance. Don’t take it so seriously…kissing ain’t copulating.
That’s why they’re kissing and you’re driving. HOME, JEEVES.
TO ME 3 WORDS: I DONT CARE! HOPP IN MY TAXI ENJOY YOUR RIDE PAY YOUR FARE , AND GET THE HELL OUT FROM MY TAXI ! I AM A VERY HIGH TEMPER GUY BUT WHEN I CHOOSE THIS JOB I DECIDED TO TAKE THE SHIT.A HAVE TO ,NO OTHER CHOICE.MORTGAGE TO PAY, FAMILY TO FEED,BILLS…… ETC,ETC.ON THIS DAYS WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE A JOB.IF U ARE SENSIBLE ON BAD REMARKS FROM OTHERS CHANGE JOB , BE A …………..LETS SEE ,WHAT ABOUT GYNECOLOGIST FROM A NICE 27 YEARS OLD P..SY U CAN TAKE SHIT? OH YEA BABY!
hahaha
hey chip how many years have u been driving ?
Please continue discussion on the forum: link