Results tagged “pedicab”

As the NY Post continues their takedown of the pedicab industry today, we wonder who causes the most trouble on the city's streets.

As pedicab operators make the final stride in becoming legit under the city's new regulations, the NY Post takes a look at their rate cards. Unlike other modes of transportation in this city, pedicabs don't have a fixed fare. Operators can change their prices from minute-to-minute as long as they provide rate cards for their customers.

Will pedicabs become extinct before carriage horses? At the end of last month there were reportedly only 25 of 1,000 pedicabs who became licensed under the city's new regulations. The NYCPOA declared this was untrue, and we've contacted them today to confirm the latest Post report, which says that number is up to only 321. Peter Meitzler from the organization told us that "the current number of plates issued so far to inspected pedicabs is 349 as of 9 this morning."

Following the pedicab crash off the Williamsburg Bridge earlier this year, the city decided to try to get those pedicab laws in order. With less than a month left to pass an inspection to obtain a license, there are reportedly only 25 of around 1,000 pedicab operators who have done so as of earlier this month.

Meet Yousef al-Khattab, a Jewish-born, Jersey-raised convert to Islam who operates a pedicab in Manhattan. The Post describes him as "attention-loving" in a profile that's already up on al-Khattab's website, Revolution Muslim. The site is full of videos showing al-Khattab, who changed his name from Joseph Leonard Cohen, confronting the heathens about their sinful ways. Watch him tear this "Flesh God-worshiping pagan" a new one:

Because there were, miraculously, no injuries, that professionally-shot video of a street fight between a pedicab driver and a cabbie was an instant classic—especially that part where the pedicab driver rides off on the sidewalk after throwing a trashcan at his adversary (and missing). But Mayor Bloomberg was not amused, and told reporters yesterday that the traffic-stopping fisticuffs were "totally inappropriate."

A Fox 5 cameraman happened to be shooting footage near the Ed Sullivan Theater yesterday for a segment on taxi medallions when an angry brawl exploded between a pedicab driver and a cabbie. It starts when the pedicab driver, fed up with the hack honking his horn behind him, tosses a cup of coffee at the cab's passenger-side window. You gonna take that cabbie? Not in New York! Check it out:

Not even a week after the pedicab crash in Williamsburg , officials and pedicab owners have reportedly "agreed on licensing and safety requirements that will resolve a years-long tussle over regulating the pedal-powered cabs." Mayor Bloomberg noted that the pact would ensure passenger safety in what Councilman Dan Garodnick recently called a "Wild West" type situation. The new regulations will add requirements for licenses, insurance and inspections. To get a license, owners must not only have insurance, but pass inspections confirming they have working seat belts, brakes, turn signals, and other safety features. Still, you might want to avoid steep slopes like the ramp on the Williamsburg Bridge!

Following the Williamsburg pedicab crash, the regulations around the human-pedaled vehicles are garnering some attention. The NY Times delves into them today, reporting that in 2007 the City Council passed a bill which was challenged in court by pedicab owners, who claimed it would allow more inexperienced drivers to get licensed. This put the rules on hold for years, but the lawsuit ended in April and still no new rules have been drafted or put in place—a task that falls in the hands of the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. The paper notes that "the city acknowledges that its safety and licensing provisions," which include a ban on bridge travel, are not being enforced. A lawyer for the NYC Pedicab Owners Association said, “We begged the city, for the sake of safety, to please enforce these things before someone gets hurt," but so far that hasn't happened, and until it does the rules are moot. Currently the NYPD are treating pedicabs as cyclists, meaning there are no fines for carrying too many passengers and not having seat belts.

Are outdated pedicab laws and a dangerous bridge intersection to blame for yesterday morning's pedicab crash in Williamsburg? More details have been released, and it all began when three twenty-somethings from Bushwick met 42-year-old Nicholas Nicometi after a night of partying in Times Square. The licensed pedicab driver offered them a ride back in the early morning hour, which the passengers said was uneventful one until they hit the Williamsburg Bridge (the intersection of the pedestrian pathway and Bedford Avenue between South 5th and 6th is known for being a dangerous one).

Reports are filtering in about a bad accident this morning between a pedicab and yellow taxi in Williamsburg. According to CBS2, the pedicab driver was heading eastbound off the Williamsburg Bridge pedestrian walkway when he crashed into the taxi on Bedford Avenue shortly after 7:30 a.m. The unconscious pedicab driver was taken to Bellevue Hospital with head injuries, and the Post reports that his two passengers are also listed in critical condition with head injuries. But CBS2 says the male passenger was not injured, while a 22-year-old female passenger was hospitalized with neck and back injuries. Apparently, the pedicab "snapped in half" upon impact! Those familiar with the Williamsburg Bridge pedestrian walkways might be surprised by the accident's location; of the two ramps leading off the bridge in Brooklyn, the one that abruptly empties onto Bedford Avenue is significantly more steep and narrow. It's unclear at this point why the pedicab driver exited down that ramp, or if excessive speed was a factor.

NBC New York has a video of a confrontation between Parks Department officers and a pedicab driver, adding, "There was no shortage of offensive language, so we turned off the audio for you. Merry Christmas!" Some commenters are suggesting conspiracy, saying, "It is the NYC carriage drivers that are harassing them and since the industry has tied with Christine Quinn, they are using the park dept to harass pedicab drivers," and "It was the horse carriage driver who started to harass them and took their pedicab."

It’s been over a year since the City Council passed a bill regulating pedicabs, but police have been unable to enforce the laws because of a lawsuit brought by the New York City Pedicab Owners' Association, which is just one of several pedicab organizations in the city. Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz tells the Post that the group is trying to claim all the 325 available pedicab licenses for themselves. But Chris Marlow, a flack for the association, insisits that rival pedicab drivers “who are not members of our organization don't have seat belts, don't have insurance, they don't have headlights and tail light.” Can’t they just compete for permits with a chariot race like the old days?