Filed under "Bullshit": David Yassky friend of the humble taxi driver.

http://nypost.com/2013/12/30/cabbies-worried-about-de-blasio-reversing-tlc-gains/

"Cab drivers are considering boycotting tourist areas " to show their distrust of de Blasio(?). Really Rebecca Harshbarger, you yourself do not possibly believe this. What was this taxi driving wannabe politician Beresford Simmons smoking during this interview? Did you feel funny yourself Rebecca?

Under Yassky the medallion owners abused drivers with impunity for almost four years. Black car limo hustlers ran riot and made a trip to JFK a losing proposition for struggling lease drivers except for those times it overflows with incoming flights. At the end of his stint Yassky finally got an agreement from the Port Authority to declare a "crackdown" on those thieves who also monopolized hotel loading zones that once were called "taxi stands."  After Yevgeny Friedman beat Yassky's boss in court and Bloomberg threw a public and obscene tantrum at Friedmsn, who if he is as "crooked" as you say is still allowed by Yassky to operate 880 medallions which are municipal franchises.

Anyone who has pushed for the Green Taxis is not at all the taxi drivers' friend, but is in fact a mortal foe..

New York.taxi drivers are caught between a rock and a hard place. On one side there is the fake union set up by Bloomberg to help him continue his agenda after he is no longer Mayor. On the other hand there is the medallion owner syndicate that acts like the Czar of Russia.

Bloomberg is illegally taxing all yellow taxi drivers six cents a fare and giving it to Bhairavi Dessai to set her up as his anti driver so called union leader to fight for more competition against the drivers she says she represents. Her benefits plan was supposed to go into operation a week ago yet she cannot show any real details of these overdue benefits.

The medallion syndicate act like they believe the drivers they bully love them which they do not. The syndicate does run an industry that employs tens of thousands of drivers. It is our bread and butter and Bloomberg is giving Dessai our money not to help us but to hurt us.

Dessai was not able to build a union so she sold out to our worse enemy - Michael Bloomberg and his mob of snob haters of  taxi drivers.

About the New York Taxi Workers Alliance and politics as usual.

https://nytwa.org/

If this doesn't beat all. Here is Ms. Desai, our aspiring fearless leader leading from behind. Objecting to Bill deBlasio,s promise to fire taxi czar David Yassky. Ms. Desai is the same one who suddenly endorsed Mike Bloomberg's taxi industry destruction plan after opposing it along with every conscious taxi driver and taxi medallion honcho. Ms. Desai was promised something, that's a bet.

My personal bet is she was promised or sort of almost promised the administration of the yet unborn taxi benefit plan. At six cents a trip it won't buy much in benefits, probably stuff like email reminders to go get drug tested, maybe a scholarship for one or two deserving taxi drivers' kids. What it will do is support a nice little office rental and a staff maybe of worthy ex taxi drivers.

So I am guessing the six cent plan will get born before deBlasio gets sworn in as mayor. Then we shall learn who the lucky fund administrator will be.

As for organizing a taxi driver union may I suggest visiting some taxi garages and maybe an airport taxilot with some signs and banners enumerating the rights the unikn is ready to go to the mat for right now. Why with taxi drivrr best buddy still in charge you might be able to make something happen! Like get the asbestos out of the JFK drivers restroom.

About the New York taxi drivers' union: media reports notwithstanding there is none.

This guy Fernando Mateo gets on television sometimes talking  silly shit. If he has 20000 members I am the Sultan of Oman.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance once organized a one day strike that did not shut down the taxi business. It is a service organization headed by a young lady who never drove a taxi. It tries to meld the disparate and often antagonistic interests of taxi drivers some of whom are wealthy medallion owners who exploit other taxi drivers all the way down to casual part time fleet drivers. The NYTWA is affiliated with the AFL CIO. The only actual taxi union in NYC was local 3036 which is defunct. It as never a powerhouse  and was plagued with violent factionalism and allegations of corruption.

The NYTWA recently sold out to support Mayor Bloomberg"s industry destruction program probably in hopes of getting to administer a long promised and still not existing benefit fund to be financed by taking six cents per trip away from the drivers.

I had brought to the attention of NYTWA what appears to be exposed asbestos in the mens' lavatory at the JFK airport taxi hold lot. They sent iut a tweet and nothing changed.