David Yassky
Another court decision puts Bloomberg's taxi legacy in doubt
A judge yesterday declared Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Taxi of Tomorrow project "void," casting yet more doubt on his ability to achieve an overhaul of the city's taxi fleet by year's end, when his term expires. More
Stop-and-go e-hail effort hits another speed bump
Today, an appeals court issued yet another temporary restraining order on the city's stop-and-go effort to allow New Yorkers to hail taxis with their smartphones. More
A judge's decision unfreezes the city's taxi-app program
Starting soon, New Yorkers will be able to hail taxis using apps on their smartphones, thanks to a New York State Supreme Court judge's ruling that was handed down today. More
City Hall stands firmish against wheelchair requirements for taxis
On Thursday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's taxi commissioner, David Yassky, testified against a bill that would require all yellow cabs to be wheelchair-accessible, but even he didn't seem all that convinced with his own argument. More
Bloomberg administration reverses course on hybrid taxis again
Taxi drivers will no longer have to give up their hybrid cabs in exchange for combustion-engine Taxis of Tomorrow, according to new rules released today. More
Judge delays New York City taxi apps
A judge today issued an injunction barring the city from launching taxi apps for at least another couple of weeks. More
A councilman gets his hearing, and a taxi commissioner signals he's warming to wheelchair accessibility
Councilman Oliver Koppell will, after much trying, get his hearing on taxi wheelchair accessibility. The city's taxi commissioner, meanwhile, is sending faint signals that he might be warming up to the idea. More
Charles Hynes has cash, but his challengers are out-raising him
Charles Hynes, who is seeking his seventh term as Brooklyn District Attorney, has $373,165 on hand in his campaign account after raising only $27,275 in the last six months. More
Taxi commission approves a test-run for smartphone-hails
Today, New York City's taxi commission voted to approve a one-year taxi app pilot that will allow New Yorkers to, for the first time, hail cabs by smartphone.
Backing off a permanent taxi-app solution, David Yassky endorses a one-year pilot
Taxi and Limousine Commission chairman David Yassky is backing off of the city's bid to allow New Yorkers to hail taxis by smartphone, instead telling Capital New York that a one-year pilot program is "a better idea."
Yassky's moderated position comes just a day before the commission was to vote on the Bloomberg administration's proposal to make taxi apps legal in New York City. A majority of commission members were expected to vote against the new rules, fearing they would upend the peculiar structure of the New York City taxi industry. More
At a pedicab bill-signing, Bloomberg balks
Mayor Michael Bloomberg put the breaks on a bill he was expected to sign into law today after pedicab drivers said the legislation was unfair. More
A taxi commissioner bets against rules allowing taxi apps in New York City
"I foresee the rules as written not passing," said Frank Carone, a Taxi and Limousine commissioner. More
As Sandy rages, the city releases controversial new rules about taxi apps
Today, at 11:47 a.m., just hours before the New York is to bear the full brunt of the worst storm in recent history, the city released controversial new rules about taxi apps.
Combusted: The death of hybrid taxis in New York
“We’re gonna have all of our cabs be hybrid.”
So said Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Matt Lauer on the “Today” show in 2007, as they stood in front of a hybrid yellow cab donated by Yahoo! and emblazoned with its logo.
The mayor gestured toward a thin man in glasses to his left: “This is city councilman David Yassky, who has been leading the environmental fight here in the city.”
Today, Yassky is Bloomberg’s taxi commissioner. And 2012, the year by which the taxi’s fleet was to go hybrid, has come, and is now nearly gone.
In the meantime, not only has the city’s powerful taxi lobby defeated the mayor’s plan in federal court, but the city is now taking steps that will actually reduce the number of hybrids on city streets.
(4)New York's 'secret' scheme to pay taxi drivers more
“I haven’t read a good John Grisham novel in a while, so it fills that void,” said Taxi and Limousine commissioner David Yassky this morning, of medallion owners' latest effort to challenge his oversight of the industry in court. More
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