Home Membership Events & Actions March 23 Press Conference: Call for End to Lease Overcharges & Abuses
March 23 Press Conference: Call for End to Lease Overcharges & Abuses

For Immediate Release:  March 21, 2009
For More Information, Please Call:  Bhairavi Desai at 212-627-5248
Drivers & Allies Urged to Join Councilman Yassky and Call for End to Lease Overcharges & Abuses

Press Conference
With Councilman David Yassky, Central Labor Council Executive Director Ed Ott & Other Supporters:

Monday, March 23
1:30pm
City Hall Steps

Subway:  4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge; R/W to City Hall; 1/2/3/A/C/E to Chambers

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is urging all drivers and allies to join Councilman David Yassky as he releases a ground-breaking report on overcharges by taxi brokers and calls for tight regulation and a standard contract to protect the rights of 47,000+ New York City licensed taxicab drivers.  Councilman Yassky’s report comes on the eve of a TLC hearing to be held on Thursday, March 26th to address the overcharges and for the first time, differentiate between hybrid and non-hybrid vehicle lease caps. 

A leading environmentalist and hybrid advocate, the Councilman seeks to protect the rights of the majority car owners in the industry: “driver-owned-vehicle (DOV) operators.”  Two out of every five taxis on the road are paid for by DOV operators who enter into financing arrangements with taxi brokers.  Drivers pay for the taxi purchase and financing, medallion rental and all vehicle-related expenses—insurance, repairs, maintenance and summonses.  The report uncovers the unequal terms of so-called “contracts” between drivers and the TLC-regulated brokers who routinely hike the costs and deny drivers legal protections or recourse.  This is the first time a Council office is issuing such a report and calling for an end to the overcharges, a pressing issue raised by drivers since 2004. 

We need you there!  Let the cameras show drivers and our allies standing in unity on City Hall steps as our political and labor leaders press our demands forward. 

We look forward to seeing you on Monday at City Hall Steps and then on Thursday at the TLC hearing.