The New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission’s (TLC’s) September 17 meeting should have been a slam dunk. In the brief time that she has been chair and commissioner, Midori Valdivia has shown a genuine desire to fix a broken system and serve the needs of the struggling drivers under her purview. And yet, simple rules that would have potentially saved the city’s fleet of drivers up to $1 million a year, inexplicably failed to pass.
The previous month, at the TLC’s jam-packed August 13 hearing, it seemed like pretty much everyone was onboard with the proposed rules as a good first step – perhaps with some minor adjustments. The comments from drivers and advocates, and the interaction between commissioners and speakers made it seem like the September vote would essentially be procedural.
The first part of the TLC’s rule package resulted from Mayor Mamdani’s Executive Order 11, which directed city agencies to review fees and penalties deemed unnecessary and needlessly harmful to small businesses. Ms. Valdivia described the package as the first installment of the TLC’s new “driver dignity” agenda, noting that, if a violation triggers a license suspension, which prevents a driver from earning a living, additional fees seem punitive. The TLC’s recent driver survey supported this contention, revealing that nearly a quarter of the drivers polled considered fines and penalties to be among their biggest frustrations.
To be specific, the TLC planned to eliminate the $25 replacement fee for a lost license, the $50 fine for losing a license or having one that’s “unreadable,” the $200 fine for missing an annual drug test by more than 30 days (the driver’s license would still be suspended), and the elimination of the fines associated with missed inspections for taxicabs and for-hire vehicles, which range from $100 to $500.
The second half of the package would have amended the Medallion Relief Program (MRP+), allowing owners (or their estates) to transfer a medallion and its city-backed guaranty to immediate family. It would also allow a partner to be removed from a partnership by mutual agreement, subject to lender approval.
Seemed like a no-brainer… until simple math got in the way.
For the TLC to adopt new rules, a majority vote is required from the agency’s nine seats. That means you need five “yes” votes to pass a rule. The TLC is currently operating with only six commissioners, instead of nine. At the September meeting, only five commissioners were in attendance. Commissioner Thomas Sorrentino was absent, so all five votes were needed.
One commissioner, Paul Bader, made a few reasonable points prior to the vote. After explicitly supporting the MRP+ transfer rules, he objected to the fine eliminations getting bundled together. He balked at the idea of supporting the elimination of fines for a lost or damaged license – calling it a personal responsibility – and said he thought drug testing should be random, which he said would remove the need for the fine in the first place. He also felt there were more important issues the TLC should be tackling first, like bathroom access, app deactivations and rising insurance rates, among other things.
Whether you agree with him or not, understand that Mr. Bader assumed the rules would pass, regardless of how he voted. In fact, he specifically said those words. However, the end result was a four to one vote, so the rules did not pass.
Now, several mistakes caused this calamity. Mr. Bader should have been familiar enough with the rules – including the fact that the MRP+ transfer rules and fine reductions were bundled together – and he should have made it clear from the start that he was going to vote “no.” Even if that never happened, once he stated his objections, it should have occurred to ALL of the other commissioners that a down vote would block the rules from passing, so somebody should have said something. They could have tabled the rules for a vote at a later date and fixed the minor concerns that were mentioned to guarantee their success. It would have been frustrating but a lot less frustrating than what happened.
The bigger issue, of course, is the fact that three of the nine TLC board seats remain empty, creating the perfect storm for just such a situation. The question is, what happens next? What happens when the next vote is even more consequential?
“The fix is easy,” AutoMarketplace recently reported. “The Board should reconvene quickly and pass an amended package, or at minimum split the driver fine and medallion relief rules so that one commissioner’s objection to a $25 fee cannot hold medallion transfers hostage. The Mayor and Council should fill the empty seats, because the next 4-to-1 failure is already loaded into the structure, and the rules it kills next time will not be ones everyone agrees on.”
Clearly frustrated, commissioner Valdivia stated: “This rule package was designed to provide desperately needed financial relief to drivers at a time when they need it most. Drivers made their support for it very clear during public comments, and it’s unfortunate that they’ve been denied that relief at this time. This administration will continue fighting to pass these and future rules that bring our 180,000 hardworking drivers economic justice, dignity, and improved working conditions. The Commission looks forward to revisiting this package at the next opportunity.”
Bhairavi Desai, president of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, posted the following on social media: “We are outraged and shocked. Commissioner Bader’s vote was heartless political maneuvering. The only ‘principles’ Bader displayed were a disdain for workers and a complete lack of empathy. Ultimately, we know we will prevail. Along with these rules, we need a full board of commissioners at the TLC that won’t play politics with the lives of drivers or stab us in the back.”
I get her anger, but in his defense, as I mentioned, any one of the commissioners could have spoken up, and all of them should have seen this coming.
On a positive note, at the same September meeting, the TLC voted unanimously to extend the ATLAS pilot for a second year, which pairs Disability Opportunity Fund financing with a
$30,000 Taxi Improvement Fund grant, making Toyota Siennas converted into wheelchair accessible vehicles much more affordable. The pilot is now set to run through September 28, 2027.
At this point, it is opposite of constructive to continue pointing fingers. A mistake was made, but it’s not one that can’t be fixed in a relatively short span of time. According to Ira Goldstein, who is currently the executive director of The New York Black Car Fund and previously served as a chief of staff at the TLC: “The proposal is not necessarily dead, but TLC will need to bring it back through the proper process and, most importantly, secure the five votes needed for adoption. I hope the Commission does so, because drivers should not have to wait longer for practical relief that keeps enforcement focused on illegal activity, safety, accountability, and getting drivers back into compliance without pushing them further behind.”
