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Bloomberg Speaks Out On Anti-Hugging Cabbie

2cabpaulbruno1109.jpg Bad news for the cabbie who kicked the embracing gay couple to the curb on Monday night — Mayor Bloomberg has gotten involved! The NY Post reports that he declared everyone has the right to ride in a cab (duh), and added, "I thought the taxi driver's behavior -- if it is as reported -- was a disgrace. 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."

Paul Bruno and his boyfriend say that Medhat Mohamed tossed them from the taxi after they hugged in the backseat. Mohamed has claimed that the couple was distracting him, to which Bloomberg says, "a cabdriver shouldn't worry about the orientation of the people that get in the taxi cab. The cabdriver's job is to get them there safely, as expeditiously as possible."

Meanwhile, the Taxi and Limousine Commission are investigating to find out if Mohamed should be penalized for refusing service.

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Comments [rss]

  • potsmoker

    theres plenty of rules for driver conduct but practically none for passenger conduct.

    hugging to stained seats is a stretch.





    The "Rules" explains all the varied and sometimes complicated reasons a cab driver can and cannot turn down passengers, among other things. Drivers do not have to pick up those transporting what the driver "may reasonably believe will cause damage to the interior of the taxicab, impair its efficient operation, or cause it to become stained or foul smelling."



    http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/faq_pass.shtml





  • NannyState

    Dear follicly-challenged cabbies: Hugz not Plugz.

  • cofsnowdon

    Is this the same Paul Bruno that works at Page Six, owned by the NY Post, the source of the story? Not saying it didn't happen, just asking if it's the same one.

  • thefacts

    Simple rule.



    No one should do in a cab what they wouldn't do on the public sidewalk.

  • moonbeam

    You'd have a difficult time finding anything that some people wouldn't do in public.

  • handsomedevil

    such as hugging

  • JenChungsBaby

    But would it get you thrown out of Cash Cab?

  • potsmoker

    anybody want to do a hug-in.

  • evbo

    I'm in. But only if it's in a cab.

  • handsomedevil

    Ohhhh shit! Bloomberg better watch out for that cabbie lobby. He's supposed to be everybody's mayor, not just the gays. I smell a cucumber sandwich and selzer-with-lime summit in his future.

  • NycChick



    FCD, do you really expect other races and nationalities can stomach two guys kissing then taking down their pants and sucking each other cocks. Would that be acceptable while driving? Why couldn't those two act respectable in someone's else car?

  • evbo

    Doesn't sound like you can "stomach" it, either. That said, yeah, it's probably better that 2 people wait to go at it full-tilt until they're someplace at least reasonably private, whether they're gay or straight.



    But hey, according to the guy who got booted all they were doing was hugging. That's hardly grounds for "get the fuck outta my cab." And I've gotta believe that if it was a straight couple none of this would've happened.

  • Soggy

    Why should someone's race pr nationality have anything to do with whether they can deal with gay people? And how do you know what the couple was doing in the back of the cab? It seems like your imagination has run away with you...

  • hotstepper

    it's called "roadhead" and it's all-american and totally awesome thank you very much.

  • zodak

    free hugs!

  • Huffy6241

    You should see how some cabbies treat you when you tell them you're gay AND going to Brooklyn...

  • grandzu

    Why would you need to tell them you are gay?

  • Mr Mel

    Use a car service.

  • Gregoire

    Wow, who are all these homophobes that read Gothamist? How bizarre.



    Most people here seem to be inferring more than has been claimed. Based simply on the facts, how can anybody sympathize with the cab driver? What if it were two ugly people, two black people, two old people, etc etc?

  • hotstepper

    i see gay people.

  • imadick

    if it were two ugly people it would make more sense.

  • NycChick

    The cabbie is not upset that they were gay it's the act on what they were doing in the cab was turning him off.



    Your gay your proud and yes we are used to it but shoving it down other peoples throats is not something people want to get used to.

    Make out and fuck at home.

  • JenChungsBaby

    I don't think the two guys were shoving it down each other's throats. At least, the cabbie didn't say that, did he?

  • And anybody who continues to use the "if they're like most gays" claim is a raging idiot no one should be listening to.

  • Oh please. The cabbie is some sexually immature idiot that feels ashamed when he's exposed to affection in the public arena.



    So what they were on top of each other. Drive your taxi, get paid and shutup.

  • grandzu

    The cabbie can use the ol' federal clause of conscientious refusal.

  • nicemarmot

    Well it really does depend, doesn't it? Bloomie unsurprisingly jumps to conclusions. If they were really making out as the driver said, then yes, he was entitled to tell them to cut it out in his cab, and throw them out if they refuse. So long as he feels the same way about straight couples making out in his cab.



    On the other hand, if they weren't really doing anything, then screw the driver.

  • Snoopy

    I wonder what the cab driver's take would have been if it was a heterosexual couple? A threesome or get out of my cab situation?

  • dk28

    Why can't dingbat neanderthals keep their thoughts to themselves? Just because they're allowed to do it, doesn't mean other people have to let them do it wherever they want. It's obscene.

  • Neverhaditsogood

    Just another religious right-winger getting his licks in on America.

  • hotstepper

    someone buy that billionaire a thesaurus. "disgrace" is bloomie's "inconceivable".

  • nyactorgirl

    ...to blave

  • nicemarmot

    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  • chuzzlewit

    anybody want a peanut?

  • wingedearth

    Why can't they keep their weird perverted buggery outside of other people's cars? Just because they're allowed to do it, doesn't mean other people have to let them do it wherever they want. It's obscene.

  • evbo

    Obviously an Enlightened Thinker here, folks.

  • whitecastlerock

    Oh Majesty Mike, why not wait until all of the facts are in before you render a swift verdict?

  • seven

    I'm sorry, if this guy is like most gay men, they were no doubt doing more than "hugging" in the back of that cab.



    The cabbie claimed one dude was on the other's lap, straddling him and kissing him. I believe the cabbie. Gay or straight, you are not entitled to have sex in a cab.

  • moonbeam
    Gay or straight, you are not entitled to have sex in a cab.


    It seems like that should go without saying, but apparently it's not so obvious to some people...

  • ianmac47

    Who hasn't made out in a taxi cab? I don't say anything when the cabbie is talking on his cell phone, he shouldn't say anything when someone is having a little kissy kissy.

  • hunter.blatherer

    It must have taken you a while to get to know most gay men, and to study their habits in taxicabs.

  • FrankMartin

    And what about seatbelts. I mean safety first.

  • hunter.blatherer

    Uh-oh, he used the word disgrace. That means this cabbie is just as bad as the reporter who dared to question him on overturning term limits.

  • pudeljung

    Serious, the magnitude of public disgrace and controversy is now completely disproportionate to the offense. I think the cabbie was wrong, but also understand it's a case of immigrant culture shock, not a conspiracy against gay people and civil rights. Puhleeeeez

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