NYTWA DEBT FIGHTERS TO CARAVAN FROM NYC TO EDINA, MINNESOTA
PRESS CONFERENCE & SEND OFF RALLY
2,400-Mile Journey To O’BRIEN STALEY PARTNERS/OSK HQ. To Call On Hedge Fund To Join The City's Debt Relief Plan
Sunday, March 27th at 9AM
Vedder Price, Law Firm of O'Brien Staley Partners/OSK
1633 Broadway (at 51st St.)
Over a dozen yellow cabbies are making the 2,400-mile drive from NYC to Edina, Minnesota to stop private equity firm O'Brien Staley Partners / OSK from seizing medallions and cabbies' homes. NYTWA is calling the firm to agree to join the city's ground-breaking debt relief program which includes $30,000 grants and a city-backed guarantee of the loan. The largest lender in the industry, Marblegate Assets, has already agreed to restructure its over 2,000 loans, along with a number of other lenders. The average medallion debt of $550,000 will come down to $170,000 under the city's program which the Taxi and Limousine Commission approved to begin on March 17th. Cabbies' monthly medallion payments will come down from the average $3,000 to $1,122. The program was set up following 45-days of a 24-hour protest camp outside City Hall and a 15-day hunger strike by over 80 cabbies, elected officials and even ordinary New Yorkers.
OSP/OSK purchased the medallion loan portfolio in 2017 for an average $110,000, but is now seizing cabbies' medallions and selling through private sales for undisclosed amounts then suing cabbies for the full original balance, as high as $400,000. They have also contacted a notorious "Repo Man" who has been arrested for impersonating a NYC Marshall while he forces drivers to pull over on highways to take the medallion shield, meter and vehicle plate. Cabbies say the harrowing experience of being chased down by OSP's Repo Man and the shake downs from their loan servicer, AmeriNat, have been a nightmare of abuse, and they're ready to drive to Minnesota to bring home the message directly to the private equity firm's bosses.
"O'Brien Staley Partners is sitting in Minnesota calling itself a "social impact investor" while it's created a subsidiary to squeeze New York City cab drivers. They underestimate our resolve to solve a crisis which lead to suicides. When we fought for the city guarantee, we vowed to never go backwards again, and never leave anyone behind," said NYTWA Executive Director Bhairavi Desai. "So our caravan of New Yorkers is headed to Edina, Minnesota."
The union estimates reaching 50-50 France Avenue South in Edina, Minnesota by Monday afternoon. Once in Edina, the drives will start a 24-hour picket that will go through the night until Tuesday evening. On Monday night, they'll sleep in their cars. They will return home on Wednesday night to a rally outside the offices of O'Brien Staley Partners/OSK's NYC-law firm, Vedder Price.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who brokered the historic city debt relief program between City Hall, the NYTWA and Marblegate, and Congress Members Nydia Velasquez, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and Ritchie Torres, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, state Senator Jessica Ramos and City Council Member Shahana Hanif lead a letter from nearly 70 city, state and federal electeds to OSP/OSK on March 16th calling for the firm to stop its abusive practices and join the NYC program. The cabbies' campaign for debt relief received wide popular support with endorsements from the entire Congressional delegation to ordinary New Yorkers who joined the hunger strike in solidarity.
"We know this drive will be long and the weather may even end up in single digits during our camp out, but that feels like nothing compared to the harassment and tension we are under right now. It's heartbreaking when we hear that a fellow driver could lose their home or people could end up in a debt even past our own lifetime," said John Asmah. "We are not afraid and we are not tired. We are fed up and we are determined to win."
