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Unlicensed cab drivers are charging tourists $120 a pop for a ride from the airports to Manhattan, and Inside Edition is mad as hell about it. In one of their priceless hidden camera exposés, airing tonight at 6 p.m., the show's muckrakers put their lives on the line to show you what you hopefully already knew: shady individuals are preying on people at the airport.
In June, a group of French tourists got taken on a crazy, high-speed chase when cops moved in on one of the illegal livery van drivers, but that doesn't seem to have deterred the grifter hacks. In the Inside Edition segment, an undercover producer posing as a French tourist is approached by one of the drivers at JFK and offered a ride to Manhattan for $65. (By law, it's supposed to cost $45.) But as they approach Manhattan, the driver announces that the price has gone up to $85, and when they reach the destination, he tells the producer to make it an even $120.
The highlight is when the producer angrily confronts the driver, and the driver promises, "I’m going to stop doing it…'cause it’s against the law." But then they catch him hustling tourists again at the airport the following week! That lifestyle's just too tempting. One producer thought he had a relatively good deal when a JFK hustler offered him a ride to Manhattan for $65, but "the driver ignored every traffic law imaginable and reached speeds as high as 70 miles an hour on the expressway at the height of rush hour by driving recklessly in the breakdown lane." Which just shows that you can't skimp on illegal cabs.
According to the report, security guards at the airports don't do anything to stop the drivers from swooping down on tourists "like vultures." A new law is awaiting the governor's signature that will make the crime a misdemeanor; as it stands now first-time offenders can only be fined.
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Not for the first time, not for the last: Car Culture promotes criminal activity.
so right. criminal activity has it's roots in 1771. damn you Nicolas Joseph Cugnot! damn you to hell!
Motor Vehicles are the tools of oppression for the Bourgeois elite!
you know it! i'm hopping in my '74 Gremlin X right now to rob some banks, harass old ladies, and oppress the plebes.
you've been warned bitches!
I've taken an unlicensed livery cab from JFK twice (only when the legit Taxi queue was really long and the weather sucked.) Both experiences were fine however I did over-emphasize my Brooklynize to make sure that neither driver took me for a tourist.
I've used them before when the taxi line is too long and never had a problem.
Not for the first time, not for the last: Fixie Culture promotes douchey activity
nice.
Please explain.
Incidents similar to this happened to me just a couple of weeks ago. We caught an unlicensed cab from the Bronx to Laguardia -- only to find out that the cabbie was completely illiterate! Missed the exit for LGA five times, couldn't understand which terminal we wanted even when we pointed it out for him... Turned a 15-minute ride into 50 minutes.
Then, on our way out of JFK, we were harassed by unlicensed cabbies offering $70 to the Bronx, insisting, "Same price on the queue." I shouted that mofo down and said, as loudly as I could, that he was a rip-off asshole.
I'm kind of amused by this. If someone is stupid enough to pay 120$ for a cab then whatever. When you get in a cab, buyer beware. It's not like these drivers are raking it in and sitting pretty on their piles of cash. They're no doubt much less well off than some French or Midwestern tourist that is visiting the city.
Yeah, they're regular Robin Hoods. The fact that they're not sitting on piles of cash makes their predatory illegal actions totally acceptable.
I mean, I'm all for screwing the French, but these guys are in the business of taking advantage of people.
Ah, nice to see the culture of gettin' one over is alive and well in NYC, just as it's always been.
Damn.... I knew $120 was too much to pay for a JFK - Brooklyn ride. Damn. Wish I'd seen this article 5 months ago. Damn.
At least my trust fund paid for it!!! Thanks Dead relatives!!!!
charge as much as you want, just don't kidnap liam neeson's daughter.
"According to the report, security guards at the airports don't do anything to stop the drivers from swooping down on tourists "like vultures.""
Last few times I've been at JFK, security was sweeping the taxi line (even as late as 1am) for unlicensed drivers and chasing them away. "Hey, you know the deal, take a hike." "How many times do I gotta kick you out of here?"
Just take the ride and stiff them.
Good idea. What are they going to do, get the police involved? Their fine would cost them more than your fare would pay.
walking away only works if your luggage isnt locked in the trunk and the fake cabbie knows that too.
if parking ticket could be 115 why limo or taxi can charge $ 120 to gave people want luxury ride to nyc if mayor think people could pay $ 115 for parking ticket i think they could pay $ 120 for ride that take 2 hrs some time i just travel last week i took ride from them its is batter and nice clean car better then caby who alwas on phone or don,t ever speak english if u have