Taxi! Cabs and Capitalism in New York City

by Biju Mathew

A front seat ride through the yellow cab industry of New York City

Taxi! offers a fascinating glimpse into the lines of New York City’s taxi drivers from a lead organizer of the Taxi Workers Alliance.

The yellow cab is a striking metaphor for New York City and its exuberant twenty-four-hours-a-day rush. But just as the city has changed in recent years, so too has the industry that keeps it on the move. As Biju Mathew reveals in this fast-paced survey of New York’s taxi business, just about everything has changed dramatically except the yellow paint.

An immigrant working class in an industry that pioneered outsourcing, taxi drivers have a tough job with long hours and low earnings. The recent fare hike represents a major step forward for them. Behind the victory is a long campaign by the Taxi Workers Alliance, of which Mathew is a volunteer organizer, stretching back to the 1998 strike against the harassment of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The scale of this action, with twenty-four thousand drivers participating, was achieved despite the diversity of a workforce that speaks at least eighty different languages. Drawing extensively on Mathew’s interactions with the drivers, Taxi! is as much a critical commentary on globalization, urban renewal, migration, and multiculturalism as it is a captivating account of the struggles and triumphs of life behind the wheel. Buckle up, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

Brilliantly combining memoir, ethnography, history, social critique, and political analysis, Biju Mathew tells a powerful story of what is possible when Third World immigrant workers mobilize in defense of themselves.

–Robin D.G. Kelley

A stunning introduction to the lives of New York's taxi drivers. It is destined to become classic.

–Vijay Prashad

About the Author:

Biju Mathew is a member of the Organizing Committee of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, and a professor of business at Rider University.