Mayor Bloomberg Battles Fleet Owners Over NYC 'Taxi of Tomorrow'

An anonymous reader writes "In April, Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced that the Nissan NV200 minivan had won a citywide competition to replace the current cab model, the Ford Crown Victoria, in a phased-in period of five years. Cab owners sued, pointing out that New York City law requires that hybrid electric models be available for immediate use for cab medallion owners; that excludes the current Nissan NV200, with its 2.0 liter, 4-cylinder engine rated at a combined 24 mpg. The NV200 also has poor accessibility for wheelchair users. After a state judge blocked the mayor's plan, Bloomberg allegedly told the CEO of Taxi Club Management at a private club, 'Come January 1st, when I am out of office, I am going to destroy your f--king industry.' Tim Fernholz of Quartz speculates that Bloomberg (a billionaire) may be planning to launch a cab-hailing service like Uber, which was just allowed back onto the streets of New York, with significant limitations."

Comments

Re: Bloomberg and Democrats are enemies of the wor

[evanism]

The trouble with workers, is they are just that. They can't run a company, can't come up with a great idea or provide genuine leadership. If they could, they wouldn't be workers.

Handing them the reigns due to some misguided attempt at Robin Hood-ism will lead the universal failure.

What is needed is forcing the uber wealthy to use their money is a socially beneficial manner, not squirrelling it away unused.