Taxi drivers in New York

I recently traveled to New York using a Expedia coupon I found on the web. I discovered a whole culture of shock and awe that I have not been accustomed coming from a small midwestern city. Here are some of my observations and experience with cab drivers in New York. I hope I can help others who are planning to go to New York to "be prepared".

Renting a car is almost a hellish experience in itself. There is very limited parking and once parking is found, it can get very expensive if you don't know where to go. Unless you are with a native New Yorker, I recommend you take the cab or the subway.

If you leave John F. Kennedy airport and go to Manhattan, there is a flat fee of $45 (as of Jan 2008). Keep this in mind so that you do not think when riding a taxi that your fare will start at $45 and continue increasing as you travel.

Anywhere you go in New York, it is VERY important to tell the taxi cab driver the cross streets. You can try telling them the number and the street but then it will not be beneficial for several reasons:

1. If you don't tell them the cross streets, they will most likely ask you for it. If you say "I don't know" then you are claiming that you are not sure of the location and it will be very easy for them to take you around and around milking your fare.

2. Numbers are almost impossible to find. If you go to Manhattan, it will be very difficult to find numbers for buildings, they are difficult to spot.

3. They may drop you anywhere. This happened to me. I told them the number and the street. The cab driver dropped me off about 2 miles away from my destination telling me "it's just around the corner". Yeah, a corner 2 miles away.

Be vigilant, know your cross streets and print out a google map before you go to your cab ride. Another good reason to print out maps is because the main streets are often clogged, if they take you through clogged streets you can tell them to take you through smaller streets.

No matter what you do, don't trust what they say. My wife and I were waiting in different corners since we were in a traffic filled location and there were many people wanting to ride taxis. I finally got into one of the cabs and told the driver to pull into a hotel drive through where my wife was waiting. Because she was not immediately in sight, I told the cab driver I will go out and get her and that he would please wait 30 seconds. He said he would and as soon as I left the cab, leaving my shopping goods in the taxi, he took off. And he looked so trustworthy...

It is a good idea to record the ID number of a cab as soon as you ride it. This way you can report them to New York's taxi and limousine commission if you have any problems.

Initial fare.............$2.50
Each 1/5 mile (4 blocks).$0.40
Each 1 minute idle.......$0.40
Peak surcharge...........$1.00 (after 4pm until 8pm Mon-Fri)
Night surcharge..........$0.50 (after 8pm until 6am)
Tolls....................$extra
Additional riders........FREE

Remember, the taxi driver makes about 30K a year and for a job that has to deal with low compensation, high crime, and the headaches of traffic in New York, you should still be nice to them. Many are immigrants and they may have trouble speaking English. I swear, these guys live in their cars since I saw several of them sleeping on their cars parked next to the sidewalk.