Moving on to other pursuits. I have recently relocated overseas.

 Now im traveling the world. Please follow some of these new travel related blogs... ill be starting a new one soon. I am located in southeast Asia at present.

Bohemian Vagabond an Asian girl who travels the world

The blond Abroad an American girl who travels the world

Solo vagabond travel related guy from the states.

Travel tips from Solo guy

Low cost, Asian travel solo backpacking in asia

tips on backpacking in asia Low cost asian travel

More backpacking blogs list of other travel related blogs

Attacked by the FDNY

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know there's quite a lot of weird occurrences that can happen inside of a cab, beyond the more mundane stuff like trips to Penn Station you can meet all sorts of varieties of characters for example TV personalities, billionaires, 7 foot tall cross dressers, and beautiful models .. and when objects are moving around the city bad or good things can happen, accidents, violence, fights, disputes, VIOLENCE SUCKS BAD AND MR. TAXI DUDE JUST DOESN'T LIKE DEALING WITH IT Most recently, heres an incident that happened involving the FDNY.... 

Attacked by the FDNY..... 

I was on my way up to Harlem which is not a destination I drive to very often perhaps less than a few times a week and most likely the west side. This later afternoon during summer, I was in a line of traffic and we were waiting for some fire engines to pull over. I had assumed there may have been some fire in the vicinity so I waited for the fire trucks to park. The fire trucks pulled to the left and some firemen got off the rig. A few cars began passing the fire engine and men. Then as it became my turn to go past, a giant burley firefighter jumped on the hood of my cab and slammed his fists into it! It totally shocked me! He yelled at me “YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL!” Then I tried to backup but could'nt hmm. Another firefighter comes out and starts pounding his fists on my door! Can you believe it! My passengers were freaking out, praying that the police would not come! Nuts! I was so shocked I didnt wanna fight the FDNY or the NYPD so I normally just run away from violent stuff! What I had misjudged is that the fire truck was parking in the garage at 3^rd Avenue instead of responding to a fire at this location. The reason is I just simple dont drive upto 123^nd Street that often. An honest mistake! I simply did nothing and drove on after they parked the fire engine – nor did I file a complaint with the FDNY, I simply let them get away with attacking my cab. Violence sucks bad! This was at Ladder FDNY Engine 35 ,Ladder 14 & Battalion 12.

The Forgetful Acrobat and other interesting stuff!

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know there's quite a lot of weird occurrences that can happen inside of a cab, beyond the more mundane stuff like trips to Penn Station you can meet all sorts of varieties of characters for example TV personalities, billionaires, 7 foot tall cross dressers, and beautiful models .. and when objects are moving around the city bad or good things can happen, accidents, violence, fights, disputes, weird conversations, sex and more. Here is a memorable incident that happened just recently.... 

The Forgetful Acrobat! I had a funny mishap with a wallet just recently. Occasionally passengers forget their money. I stopped for a straight acting type dude, a gray-haired 40-ish man wearing sneakers and athletic clothes and carrying a backpack at 7th Avenue and 20th headed south. The ride was conversation free. We get in and we ride to 12th Street and Broadway near NYU. This was where the fun began. He feels his pocket, then he says oh woops I think I forgot my wallet “shit,” “f*ck” he says. Then he suggests we go back and get it. After this I ask him if he's got money in his apartment – sometimes passengers can burn you and you end up losing the fare, mostly this happens when somebody is really trashed! So we turn around and go back across 11th Street then across 13th, then Greenwich Avenue, to 8th Avenue and then we take a right on 20th Street back in Chelsea. Cutting down 20^th Street  we pass a police precinct. Then we pull upto a building and I park across the street on the left side – I know this building well its like an Art Deco place that ive been to before .….. he then proceeds to leave his bag in the back while he goes back in. Here is where more craziness happens. I hang out for a few minutes while I wait and I feel a bit sorry for this guy's misfortune. Next I see him come bolting out of his old building's door. Unfortunately as he was running across 20th Street another cab comes down the street and oops, the guy hits the front of the other cabs hood, flips into the air doing a 360 degree spin ala Jackie Chan! The other cabbie jams on the breaks, and waits for him to back up he stops. Now the other cab speeds up and moves on by and my passenger comes over to the other side. OOPS! Narrow miss on that one. Next up he gets in the cab and the poor man says “I couldn’t find it so I had to ask my doorman for some money” he said nervously. “Oh, ok.” At least he will not be ripping me off. He then proceeds to check his backpack. Poor man, now he tells me that his wallet is inside his backpack and its been there the whole time! Now he begins screaming expletives, “oh sh*t, oh f*ck!” As we ride, he continues to curse at himself repeating the words “oh sh*t, oh f*ck!” “oh sh*t, oh f*ck!” . Poor man. I smirked and I knew this would be a funny one for my readers I just sit there and accept his money and drive away hunting the next fare....

Celibrities inside Taxi Dude's Cab! Some talk to me, some do not. One of my favorite famous persons to meet was Chris Wragge, a very professional taxi rider. Justin Ross Lee had a lot of interesting stuff to say, hes a smart guy, more of a local NYC celebrity. Here are a few more, Kelley Rutherford, Al Roker, Leonardo Dicaprio, Katerina Ivanovska, Amanda Hearst, Bryant Gumble.....Celebrities List:

Tuesday Night Shift and Taxi Career Recap....

Hey guys this is my first post on Craziest NYC Taxi Stories in 2016, I've been busy with other IT projects but now im back online. Today is a week day/night in May. The weather is decent, which means people will be outdoors enjoying the Spring season and a bit more skin will be showing and people will be out having fun. Something unique tonight - a lot of the students at NYC colleges are out and the students are having sendaway parties at clubs in Meatpacking and the West village. Earlier in the day i took some girls from NYUs dorm on 3rd Avenue and 8th Street to LGA LaGaurdia Airport. I'm going to give you a few highlights of stuff ive seen over the past 1 to 2 years that I have not had the time to document and as usual, most if it will be crazy weird....

Here are two famous or infamous dudes I picked up within the past 1 years time: Elliot Spitzer, client #9,... 

He was actually pretty cool... riding with his girlfriend, Lis Smith. Picked them up at The Standard and took them to a restaurant in Soho. They were whispering  to see if i recognized them but I never responded. Yes I did but we never spoke because I did not want to bring up his Client #9 scandal. He had a raspy voice. Lis Smith is skinny and cute.


Next up... Dennis Kozlowski...shamed and imprisoned former CEO of Tyco...
Mr. Kozlowski didn't say much either. I picked him up at the Trump Building in the 40s on 1st Avenue. He's a big tall burly man evidently he still has some money because he was at this building for ultra rich types. The ride was nothing to write home about. I drove to Central Park South. He looked to be on his way to some business meeting.


 know much about these people. First guy was a white guy from Brooklyn who had a few scruples about telling me that he was in the drug trade. After that I wanted him out. Second guy was involved in the drug trade down in Central America. Evidently the value of a human life down there is not as much as it is here because this guy has whacked tons of people.

Next subject...stuff hiding inside a taxi passenger's ears... and the photos to prove. One night I picked up a girl over in Williamsburg from Eastern Europe. She told me that she had come to the USA to get away from the prostitutes who were chasing her... I said uhhhh okay and played along. She asked for my # so I gave her my business card with my taxi contact info on it. Later that night she texts me a photo of her ear claiming she needs help to dig out the prostitutes that are hiding inside..No thanks I prefer to stick to the sane and the living.

The later part of the afternoon started out with a few mid-day rides wading through horrendous traffic that plagues Manhattan's midtown neighborhood during the day. Among these were a visiting tourist couple from Chicago... I took them to the 9/11 memorial. I also had a friendly lady from Australia who was visiting New York City to check out exercise businesses to see what was popular in the USA - she sat up front with me.  She was a yoga teacher if im not mistaken or a gym owner.

Later that night, things got busy because it was the end of the school year party. It seemed to be a girls night out because there was a lot of girls out. I picked up one group of sexy girls from Fordham U in the Bronx, they were headed to a diner in West Midtown. Later on i picked up a Turkish couple headed to Tribeca and a super drunk group of girls who were headed from Stuy Town to an apartment building in midtown. One of them fell asleep with her high heels hanging over the partition in my cab.

A Comedy of Errors

Today is a weekend night in May of 2015. Its nice and warm out, which means people will be outdoors enjoying the summer since its finally turned warm in NYC after a long cold wintertime. Tonight's shift was quite a ride with all sorts of bad and crazy things happening. The late afternoon started out with a few mid-day rides wading through horrendous traffic that plagues Manhattan's midtown neighborhood during the day. One girl road from lower 6th avenue to 56th and 8th avenue in about 30 minutes or so costing her about $30 US dollars. After a few of these I took somebody to Broome St, then turned around and expected to head up Allen Street back towards midtown then I spotted a young lady with a suitcase walking near the bus depot area near Delancey I passed her but she waved me away then I spotted a young  male with a big bag hailing me down and I knew this might be trouble....

The reason being, is he looked a bit rough around the edges, like somebody who might have trouble paying the fare. I stopped and asked him where he was going. He said just over the Manhattan bridge into Brooklyn. Against my better judgment, I stopped and let him inside the cab. He lied, we headed near Eastern Parkway which was quite aways into Brooklyn. I was a bit afraid of what might happen once we got that far into Brooklyn. It was near rush hour and there was some traffic on Flatbush Avenue into Brooklyn. As we drove he made a few phone calls and got a window into his life. He said he was on the way back from Virginia on a bus that was two hours late. Routinely out of town buses drop passengers in Chinatown after cheap fare trips. He said he was a DJ and had a job down there. I asked him a few questions about his career as a DJ just to seem friendly. He then made a call about getting his laptop fixed at Apple because one of his friends had accidentally plugged in a phone charger to his laptop and it shorted the battery out. He was repeatedly discussing how to schedule getting the laptop fixed in the midst of the other things he needed to get done. He seemed busy. Once we finally arrived to the Prospect Park area of Brooklyn which is an area that is heavily African American, he told me that he would swipe his credit card into the machine.  The fare came to $26 he swiped his card and it said “declined, stolen credit card!” The first time such a thing has happened to me, although ive had plenty of CC payment declines for other reasons. He then said “shit!” and said ive got the cash. He gave me $26 in cash and I quickly tested the money to see if it was real, it was! I was relived to get rid of this criminal. Welcome to the ghetto.

Next up I parked my car and locked the doors and then determined it might be easier to go to JFK airport as opposed to heading back to Manhattan in 20 mins worth of traffic. I then proceeded to drive through the worst parts of Brooklyn and Queens, low income high crime hoods, with my meter off! I arrived at JFK to see the holding lot was not that full which was a relief it would be a short wait time. I was dispatched to Terminal 8 using the new paperless automated dispatch system at JFK. Once I showed up at the terminal I attempted to pass another cabbie who had pulled up short of an intersection behind the taxi line near the passenger stand. He was an American guy and pulled up alongside me and said “hey what the hell are you doing?” “You must be on drugs!” He got mad. I suggested calmly that when the line moved he could pass me. He sat next to me and then another car needed to get past so I reversed my cab and let the other car go by. The taxi dispatcher then motioned for us to go away and circle around the airport and come back in a loop. I then proceeded to back all the way up while the other crazy American cabbie was yelling at me still! Eventually he gave up harassing me and went in line, completely ignoring me after our initial problem, oops! From here I got an Asian girl from Seattle going to a hotel on the west side of Midtown. Because of traffic concerns I went over the Triboro bridge and then across the UES, down the west side highway and ended up on 53rd and 11th Avenue south. 

After this ride I got a weird gay dude headed across town. Being gay was not the problem, however, there were certain things I could tell about this guy you might want to watch out for. What I mean is he fits into certain categories in my taxi cab passenger typology profile. He was speaking to me in a gruff manner and was sometimes ignoring some of the stuff I said -  more than likely he's a native NYer and these guys can be less than friendly or they can be friendly, it just depends. One thing I noticed is that when a passenger chooses to ignore some of the stuff you say its better to just avoid talking to them, unlike us friendly southerners or tourists who like conversations. Also he was more towards middle aged. The age tells me that he probably is again not friendly with strangers and may have entered the grumpy attitude period. Better just to drive him where he wants to go and get the money. We drove there over to the east side,  across 23rd St to South St, to an art exhibit.

After we arrive I discharge him and I get a group of young professionals headed back to Houston Street, as I'm going towards there I have an idiot copper from the NYPD pulls me over. I was surprised because I was not going that fast. He told me I had cut off a family and a stroller – not true. I had seen them in the crosswalk but they were in the median area so I passed them doing about 15 MPH. I wonder if the NYPD has a ticket blitz this weekend. The same thing happened about the same time last summer. He told me ive got to slow down but I was really only doing about 15 MPH? I hardly believed what this guy had told me. He seemed like a foreigner. Now ill have to hire a traffic attorney to take care of this problem for me – not good! After the cop let me go I proceeded to drop these guys on Houston near Allen Street on the Lower East Side. Now normally the cops don't bother me too much but as you can see tonight's shift was quite a minefield of characters.

I dropped this group off on the lower east side, then I made a u-turn and headed uptown. I picked up a number of different groups of European and American tourists and carted them from A to B around to various  attractions, and also made a few short neighborhood trips. Darkness fell then I began to pick up girls and groups headed out for the night. I picked up two Albanian chicks wearing skirts and heels and dropped them on 10th Avenue and I picked up a group of blonde ladies and drove them down 2nd Avenue.

Later on into a weekend night is when the passengers start to get in drunk. I dropped somebody downtown on Water Street then I had this attractive Jewish girl get in and start to mumble – this was a funny one. I asked her where she wanted to go she stuttered “midtown-tunnel” uhhhh “FDR” I said what? Uptown? She mumbled again “Broadway with Church?” Then finally she said “BQE” and I said huh what? You want to go to Queens? She said no. Then after a few minutes she said “normally I get into a cab and the driver drives me where I want to go and I said “but miss, you never told me where I should be driving to?” you gave me 5 destinations none of which are intersections.” With this she said “pullover im getting out” she paid me $5 then left. LMAO!

I picked up a few more tourists and dropped somebody at a hotel on upper 7th Avenue in the 50s, then headed south into times Square. Here I stopped for two well dressed ladies in front of a strip club, they got in and said Queens through the midtown tunnel, this was a good fare, however as soon as they said that some drunk dude opened a door in front of my van cab and I ran into it and ripped the door off its hinges. Too bad, that sucked. I stopped got out and asked the driver if the door was okay. The hinges were busted however. The accident did not do any damage to my van cab but a scratch. I then went back to the two attractive female passengers and told them to hang on a few moments but I turned around and see they had bolted from my cab. However the good news is the other driver blamed the drunk guy for ruining his door and told me I could get lost since it wasn't really my fault anyway. I drove away fast so as not to get an accident report.

Thank god I escaped from that and drove on finding some more fares before the end of the night, mostly drunks. I had a dude who needed to go across 14th, then I had a very cute young lady from Livingston, NJ who was trashed. After her I got some film dude with long hair who was cool, worked on independent films. Later, I stopped by the meat packing district and got some club goers, something I do almost every night that I drive, once the clubs close around 3 or 4am. My last fare was two FIT college girls with fake Ids. They told me a few things about their lives as students then I hightailed it back to the garage, jumped on the subway and hit the sack about 530am to end a weekend night.

Human Behavior in Taxi Driving

Today is the first day of May, 2015. I am still driving the taxi but have been neglectful in publishing new blog posts about my and my passengers antics behind the wheel. So glad winter's over and spring has sprung in 2015. I have been meaning to write a post on the general behavior of taxi passengers and probably the most important lesson I have learned as a cab driver. From reading my blog it might seem as though there's lots of odd behavior from my passengers but the truth is there's much more stereotypes in human behavior than you might imagine. Most passengers behave in a pretty mundane and stereotypical manner although some do give me some insights into their lives, while hardly anyone asks me what I'm doing behind the wheel of a yellow cab as a white college educated guy. You might have read a previous blog post in which i detailed the various groups of people i see on a regular basis: Typical Night of Taxi Driving I wrote this post in 2011 and the stereotypes tend to persist throughout time.

If anyone will be giving me a little bit of trouble I expect it to come from the middle aged complainer variety - as previously described. One general rule of thumb is that the older and uglier a person looks, and the more disheveled, the more likely they are to have a problem with me or themselves or the TLC, or whoever they meet - better to mind your Ps and Qs with these guys... more information on this sort of thing to come....

The most business like are the just as you might expect the business men, the guys who get in dressed in business attire running to LGA for a biz meeting, never complain never have too much to say, pay a generous tip, get a receipt and leave. These are good guys if you want to make a buck behind the wheel.
 
Next up, there's always a lot of European tourists and when I say a lot I mean it. New York City is a dumping ground for Europeans, Brits, Irish, Scots, Italians, lots of French, Brazilians, Japanese, and Chinese. This past week I picked up a guy from Naples, Italy, nice guy with dark olive skin quite a talker, then two girls from Argentina with dark hair, a girl from Mexico on vacation, and some Swedish guys all in the same shift. Normally, they go back and forth to JFK airport. Its quite en vogue for foreigners to take a vacation in NYC, but doesn't anyone else visit? It seems as though the streams of foreigners will never end.

Next up, theres the young girls and guys i.e. white, good jobs, and below age 30 or so.... looking to go out in the city and get their freak on bar hopping. These sort of behavior starts around maybe 7pm or so. Normally they chit chat on their cells with their friends - having the most mundane sorts of conversations and this sort of thing just never ends but goes on throughout the entire night, its like "yes, we will see you at Wicked Willies on Bleecker with jimmy and susie! cant wait! hehehehe!" The weekends contain a lot more of these types of people whereas the weeknights are much more mundane; and let me tell you, the conversations are about as mundane and boring as you might imagine, most of the time....

One odd situation I found myself in a few years ago... I was driving around one Saturday night about 11pm or so, and I picked up a middle-aged lady on the right side of Second Avenue headed south. I could tell from the look of her that she might be trouble because she had a stern look on her face...she was standing in a sea of young people looking to pahtay. She had asked to go south to Third Ave and i believe 8th st or so. I knew something was a miss ...I turned on 13th i believe it was because 9th st has more traffic this time of night and of course she yells at me, I told you to turn on 9th .... no she never told me where to turn!!! or something like this, obviously her advice was wrong bc theres a ton of congestion on 2nd avenue below 13th, but this is just the sort of behavior one might expect from a middle -aged complainer - claiming some mistake that exists but does not really...This sort of behavior might also be considered the norm for some people in NYC in the way they treat customer service representatives. As a southerner, this isn't how we treat others and it just seems to be in a word odd.... but yet stereotypical for NYC its called NYC rudeness. just looking to get your goat.... the point im trying to get at, is that the other passengers out that night could've cared less about the taxi ride and were more concerned about partying down for the night....

The point being, the older and richer the person is the more likely they are to exhibit this sort of behavior, watch out for those guys wearing tuxedos on 5th Avenue and having lunch at the New York Athletic club, they might get your goat.

On the flip side of that coin are the ghetto guys who live in the projects. Watch out! They might hand you a counterfeit $20 or $50 or rip you off....and one way to tell is by how they look. If they can't afford the clothes or they missing a few teeth more than likely they gonna have a problem with paying a taxi fare. A few weeks ago I had a passenger, looking a bit on the poor side, a male riding with his  girlfriend. There was honestly no way for me to avoid passing him because he was right in front of another passenger who i had just discharged. Had I been cruising in an open area theres a chance I might have illegally turned him down. Anywho he gets in around the Wall Street area, and wants to go to midtown and of course he starts by complaining about the traffic, which was slammed this afternoon because of rush hour. He goes on about hows hes a native NYer and doesnt wanna be ripped by my wasting time in traffic. I said id offer him a discount but I knew this might not end well for me and thats just how things go sometimes. By the time we get upto the mid 50s on the east side the meter is at $38, the guy hands me a $20 and I'm getting ripped for half the fare! the point being I saw this coming ahead of time!

Taxi to 52nd Street and 8th Avenue

Hey guys, Taxi Dude signing on here for NYC Craziest Taxi Stories. Today was a late June Friday night and I was surprised about how busy the city was for a summer weekend night. Normally many Manhattan residents will leave the city for the Hamptons or other vacation destinations, making for a quiet city. More than likely July and August will be deader than June. If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, the same pattern was repeated last year and the year before.

There was quite a list of tourists who make up for the vacuum in the city residents departing. My first destination was the Brooklyn Motor Inn which is right near the Battery Tunnel in Brooklyn. The two passengers I had for this one were less than savory, in fact the woman looked like a street hooker and the man a redneck construction man. I made sure not to ask too many questions I just drove them. From here I went straight into the Battery Tunnel to Manhattan. This time of year in Manhattan it's quite a different vibe from the gruff people who inhabit NYC during the normal year. They are friendly, a bit slower or more leisurely and looking for fun because its tourist season. I got started early this Friday afternoon and had few fares. One of the first was a group of studly masculine looking gay men on vacation from down around the Financial District. I remarked to them about the traffic around the Holland Tunnel headed up 6^th Avenue. They told me they were in town for the Pride events meaning the gay pride parade. Assumption proven correct. We made some more smalltalk as I took them to a location in Chelsea, 17^th and 7^th Avenue, which is a pretty gay area. Don't ask, don't tell, I just want the money. They paid me and left a big tip total was $18. 

   

For awhile this afternoon it was tough to find somebody. I drove around empty. The weather was gorgeous. Next up I had a Korean woman who owned an ethnic restaurant. I took her downtown from Home Depot. She was stocking up on paper towels and some other restaurant products. Her and I had a chat about mundane stuff like taxi rides and her residing in NYC and also the differences between Korean and Chinese food. This one was a real talker.

   

Eventually I was downtown and got a business fat man near Wall Street going to midtown, 48^th Street and 8^th Avenue. Traffic was murder during daytime which was surprising for a summer Friday. It may have been due to the fact that people were driving through or out of NYC or due to construction. After him, I had a well-off European tourist lady from Germany stop me and ask for JFK which was just great, because during the summertime if you wanna make bank you’ve got to take everyone. I drove her across Central Park and down Second Avenue. After checking traffic on my phone, I took the surface streets and passed on the highway. This means we took the Queensboro Bridge at 59^th onto Queens Boulevard. It was an awkward ride because the German lady didn't really seem to be interested in a conversation which is not really the case most of the time. I clammed up and did my job, occasionally checking my cell phone for text messages as I drove in a bit of stop and go traffic. All total it took me about 1 hour to get to JFK. Profits $52 fare plus $18 tip.

The lot at JFK was drained and it was a short wait due to the fact that my arrival was around shift change of 5pm. The dispatcher sent me to Terminal 4 where I picked up an interesting English gent who worked in the film industry. Traffic was slammed on the way back too. The English gent was really cool laid back guy who said he was on his way to meet with Liam Neeson about a project in pre-production. Over the hour that were stop-and-go in Queens and Brooklyn backstreets, he told me all about some projects that he had worked on including Gladiator and War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise. His job was a combination of writing and directing – reworking a script so its a better movie. He told me all about how certain actors or actresses had some pretty big pull on movie projects and they had to work with directors and other film personal that they trusted especially if they are A-list because they know the film is getting funded because of their presence in the billing. Some of his favorite stars to work with are Tom Cruise, Leonardo Dicaprio and Brad Pitt. He remarked that Tom Cruise is polite to his coworkers and always greets everyone he sees, even the extras, and buys parting gifts for them. He related that some of the worst people to work with are the up-and-comers because they want to push to get the most billing in the project. Slowly I was winding my way through the worst neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens, due the fact that we were taking the back way through Atlantic Value and Broadway. Finally we reach Bushwick, then Williamsburg and crossed over into the East Village. He seemed to be doing extremely well and had just come back from a trip to Ibiza. We stopped at his place on 8^th Street. Total $80 for the fare, tip, and an illegal cigarette smoke.

  

After I dropped the film guy off in the village I got a nobody going to the East Village. From there I got a young Asian male going to Broadway and 27^th Street. Then immediately after that I got another young Asian male taking me back to 52^nd and 8^th Avenue. At some point I got a regular dude going down 5^th Avenue then I got two finance douche-bags taking me to the UES. They were drunk in the afternoon and being the typical obnoxious Manhattan types halfway involving me in the conversations that were plagued with disrespect for their clients, women, me, or whoever. I dumped them fast on 1^st Avenue and 66^th. Then I got an Asian paraplegic in a wheelchair going to 87^th and York. Things were now moving pretty fast money-wise after a few dry spells. From here, I got 1 intra-UES trip, then I got a trip from York Avenue to Times Square. That tends to be an old-school, old money New York area – and these passengers were native NYers. They were going to the Broadway district, basically 52^nd and Broadway which is a half block from the 52^nd and 8^th Avenue location. I was careful to be nice to them because they were of course middle-aged old school NY types – the ones who could blow up if you did something wrong. Luckily this trip went off without a hitch. Later on, I got two other gays going right to 52^nd and 8^th again that was quite a hot destination tonight. They were discussing how one of their exes was living in Chelsea but then moved up here to Hells Kitchen area. Chelsea and Hells Kitchen are basically the gay capitals of the USA.

  

Nighttime has fallen around this time which was about 8 or so. First off I had a redhead young girl wearing tight jeans headed from the UES to the Village. She said nothing. Next up, I got an attractive chick wearing a black mini-dress. She made eye contact when she got into my car and of course afterward I asked her where she was from and how her night was going? She was a palish girl from Sao Paulo with an accent. Our conversation didn't go very far. I dropped her off at 27^th and 11 Avenue at a hotel bar. From here I went south on 11^th Avenue and picked up a group of say-nothings and took them to Korea-town at 32^nd. Then after this I had a funny encounter with an American girl who just got done with a date. She stopped me on 14^th Street and argued with the male half of the date who begrudgingly let her go – a situation like this is of course pretty common. I figured she would be chitchatting with her friends during the ride on her cell phone and she did. She was complaining about the guy who had not paid for the entire date, which I believe the total was about $260 – it can be pretty steep to go on a date in NYC. She said that he had paid only $100 and let her pick up the tab for the rest. From the gist of the conversation I got that impression that she ended the date because he let her offer her debit card for the last part of the date which was a comedy show. Women can be so nit-picky about such things – in my opinion, looking for any reason to get your goat and be a little bit difficult in situations like that! Not fun. Anyhow, with my cab driving job I get the inside scoop on a woman’s mind. You will never believe where I dropped her off, 52^nd Street and 8^th Avenue!

  

Later on into the night, was when people go to and from night clubs, bars, and shows on the weekend. This time can be a little more intense to deal with because people can be drunk or a bit more rambunctious. Tonight was not so bad. First off I had a middle-aged village lady. Then around the mid 50's I picked up an older couple from Indiana. I could tell right away they were tourists from the non-NY accent. They were from West Lafayette, Indiana and the male half was a teacher at Purdue University. I took them to the Indigo Hotel in downtown Brooklyn. We had a discussion about Purdue University and how it was a big school and focused on engineering and agriculture. Normally the undergraduate students are not as focused as the grad students. I had remarked that the students at my college were drunk half the time and it was not really a serious time in their lives, whereas the graduate and PhD students were more focused. After making my way back to the city, I got two groups of Swedish people. The first was a double date of couples wearing formal wear. They were going to a club on the West Side Highway and Spring Street. Waiting outside were two other Swedish men. I spoke with both groups. After dropping them a short distance I picked up two supposed lesbians who were going to upper Harlem. They fell asleep on the ride. One of them was large and in charge and was the “man” of the couple. These types of rides are always a bit awkward because I am the odd man out. The lesbos fell asleep and I took them to Frederick Douglas and 153^rd. In order to get to 153^rd from the west side you need to go up underneath the bridge that leads to the Bronx since Manhattan is so hilly at this location. After this I went up Harlem Drive then hit I 95 and back down to the West Side. After the dykes I got a cute Russian girl who was going to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. She had a girl next door type body and was wearing jeans and a T and was sexy as hell. She was none too interested in chitchatting with me being that her boyfriend was waiting on the other end of the ride. Her girl friend negotiated a flat rate, which was probably a little less than the meter to Manhattan Beach, which is near Coney Island. When we arrived at her house it was a huge multi-million dollar place. Her parents must've been doing really well. She skipped out of the cab and I raced back to Manhattan via the Belt Parkway. It was almost closing time for my taxi shift. My last fare was a couple who led me into Fort Greene, then I headed back to the taxi garage in Downtown Brooklyn to close out a pretty mundane summer night shift.

Reaching Too Far Down on a Saturday night taxi shift

     This Saturday night was a night shift that started in the afternoon since I was able to get a cab before 5pm, as is the case with most weekend nights. Because it was a weekend I knew it would be a busy night filled with lots of action, good and bad, and lots of traffic. Because it’s October, it’s the fall season in New York City and this means more traffic, more people, and more money for us drivers. The afternoon was a bit slow but during the night I knew things would heat up. After I went into the city over the Manhattan Bridge I had a passenger take me to the ever popular Williamsburg. From there, I found a pretty young girl going to Greenpoint, about 10 blocks or so from Williamsburg. From here, because of some backups on the W-burg Bridge I decided to go into Manhattan via the Queens Midtown tunnel and pay the toll of $4.55 myself because I really do not enjoy sitting in traffic.

 For a few interesting people, check out my celebrities section:

   

     Back in Manhattan I got two preppy whiteys going to Penn Station from 34^th. Traffic was bad. Next I got an Italian blondie going to Rockefeller Center to do some shopping. Then I got two teenagers going to a store in the Soho section of Broadway. They didn’t know how to pay.  Later I found a suave couple going from the East Village to the Upper East Side. They were foreigners from Austria and were speaking to each other in a throaty, sexy German accent. The girl was a hot brunette and the guy was a scruffy looking blonde, tallish with a short beard. The girl was kissing the man as we headed up First Avenue. We got stuck in some traffic because of some construction, and I heard the Austrian man speaking to some work client in a clean American English accent on the phone. He must’ve been an MD and was discussing some recommendation for bleeding gums for somebody who was probably a hemophiliac, asking “when was the last time the patient had a platelet transfusion?” We stopped at the hospital at York Avenue and 68^th Street. Then he asked me if I would wait until he came back with a package and take them to JFK. Definitely I would. He said “I’ll leave her as collateral” He grinned I said alright, but just so you know, JFK is a separate fare. He said okay. While he was gone I asked the Austrian woman, “are you guys here visiting New York? “No she said” He’s working here for past 13 years, and I’m visiting him” I said “you must’ve known each other for a long time – that’s dedication. “ Are you married to each other? I asked. She said “no.” With that she gave me a flirty grin. Then she asked about my taxi driving career. “It’s not usual to have an American driver. Is it hard to get a job in NYC?” I explained to her my situation and my part-time career as a driver. A discussion I would repeat another 2 more times tonight. Next the man comes back and we put in her suitcase, he pays the $25 fare and then we restart with $52 on the meter. She would be returning to Austria. I recommended we go over the Triboro Bridge by heading north on the FDR, then hit the Grand Central Parkway and then the Van Wyck to JFK Airport. We entered terminal 8 and I discharged them and then went to the holding lot.

  

    After I exited the holding lot, I picked up a Scottish family headed to a hotel in Times Square, the Novotel on west 52nd. Darkness began to set on Gotham. As we drove I asked them some questions about life Scotland, because I, myself, am part ethnically Scottish. Some branches of my tree immigrated to the United States in the 1800’s from Ireland and Scotland. These Scotsman foot the bill with a Britishy accent, and the stereotypical fair skinned complexion and blond hair. The guy up front told me that Scotland was a rolling country with a good amount of sheep farms, the more north you go, the less crowded it gets. The climate in Scotland is moderate to wet and cool. As I asked questions about Scotland, I tried to give them a tour of the different neighborhoods and the skyline of Manhattan. After we arrived at the hotel they paid me $80 for a $57 fare.

  

    Later on into the shift I had a REALLY strange encounter with a young blond lady. I had just finished dropping off these two eccentric men with strange accents near the ice cream shop at 7^th Avenue and Christopher Street so I keep driving west into the West Village looking for my next passenger. The street was crowded with pedestrians but nobody looked my way. Then I pulled closer to the NJ Path train entrance in the village I spot this young blonde lady walking down the street in black tights and a tanktop with a bag. She turns and then walks a few more paces before hailing me. She’s cute. So I pull closer and after some indecision she gets up front with me by herself. That’s a bit forward.  Once inside the vehicle, she tells me to drive to Debrosses Street and the West Side highway. That’s a luxury apartment building down in Tribeca below Canal Street. She proceeds to tell me that she suffers from a heart condition and that her hands are a bit numb and I asked her if she has any medication? She says she does at home. I asked her to explain a bit more about her condition. She said it had something to with a valve in her heart. That sounds dangerous, poor girl. Then we drive on.  She makes some more small talk and then we talk about cab driving. Then she tells me she thinks that I must have a graduate degree and I tell her yes, that's right. Then she rats me out as a finance guy. Right on the money, but just part-time. That was a shocker because NOBODY EVVVVVER says something like this!  Then she makes an excuse for me "well you have to do what you have to do." Then I make some excuses about my career as a part-time cabbie.  She then asks me if I’m married or have a girlfriend. I said no. Again a bit forward, but I’m not complaining – she’s cute. Her name was Lina/Lena she was from Philadelphia and/or Texas and was youngish probably around 25. I gathered her entire life story during the ride. She was a graduate of Upenn. What I haven’t mentioned yet is that she was acting a bit “drunk” or “high” but she was not. Perhaps her heart condition was causing her to act like this or perhaps she was just crazy. It just seemed like a weird vibe. We go down Washington Street in the West Village. Washington doesn’t go straight past Canal Street so we swing around right on Canal left on West Side, then we continue south on Washington, then make a right on Debrosses. I am creeping along because I’m just curious what else this young lady will say to me.  We arrive at her place then she says something really weird. She wants to go upstairs to get me cash instead of just paying with her credit card. She is holding a bag and she tells me she does not want to reach all the way down into her bag because she says “it would be reaching too far down” Huh? I thought? So it’s easier to go all the way upstairs on the elevator to get cash rather than reaching all the way down into her bag? That’s weird. Now I thought this cute girl was going to try to rob me of $10. I’m like; can you leave something inside the taxi so I know you will return? She says “I will leave something of value, my phone or something.” Then she’s like “something like this never happened to you before?” Huh? I respond. I offer no response but just shake my head uhh okay? Then she proceeds to ask me if I’m attempting to videotape her with my cellphone. I tell her no I’m just playing with my phone What is that weird light on the top of my phone? It’s just the charger connection I tell her.  Then she undoes her key for her Range Rover.  Now that’s a first - leaving your key to your Range Rover so you can go back to your apt to get $20.  This is one of those "I'm not crazy, but everyone else is kind of conversations." A few minutes later, she comes back down and she appears to have changed her clothes in addition to getting the money, wearing a white sweatshirt advertising Saint Anne’s boarding school. The meter ticked upto to $13, she hands me $20 - claiming earlier she would pay twice the meter, I then ask her name again so that I can perhaps add her on Facebook or get her #. Then she looks oddly at me, cuts me off and asks, me why I keep asking what her name is? Oops I asked that twice. She tells me that I am beginning to creep her out –you don’t say I thought (the feeling was mutual). Then she asked me for her change, stiffing me on the tip and leaves. Really strange I thought!

   Later on is when you pick up people who are headed out for the night and even later is when you pick them up coming home – mostly drunk. This is not something that I enjoy a great deal because they tend to be a bit more riled up and out of control. This list included an arguing multiethnic couple, and a rich couple headed back to the Upper West Side from a dinner after a wedding. The male told me I was an anomaly in cab driving because I’m American/white. Then I re-explained my situation as a part-time driver and freelance IT professional. The wife was working in medical device sales. The husband was working in philanthropy so I assumed they were probably very wealthy. They were a dapper couple, wearing formal wear, like a tuxedo and formal dress, with the man being bald and the woman cute. I picked them up from some hip restaurant in Tribeca near West Broadway. At the end of the ride I waved them goodbye and drove on.

 Well after dark, I had an interesting conversation with a sound technician/paramedic/livery driver who was married. I picked him up in Times Square. He was a bigger man with a beard and a wiry afro haircut. We discussed some things I had seen behind the wheel of a yellow cab, I told him about the weird sexual stuff, the drunks, the druggies, and the fights, and the freaks inside my cab. He told me about how as a livery driver, he picked up mostly corporate types going to meetings and the airport and it was boring. I told him he should totally get behind the wheel of a yellow cab for a nightshift and feel the burn. We got stuck in traffic, going down 2^nd Avenue due to the Queensboro tunnel. So I made a left and went down the FDR, towards W burg bridge. We got stuck in traffic near the exit at Grand Street for some reason it was extra brutal tonight. He then proceeded to tell me some of the weird things he saw as a paramedic. He told me a whacked story about a call he went to where an old man was buck naked and called for an ambulance. He showed up and the guy had an erection. At first I thought this dude might’ve been trying to come onto me, but then he proceeded to tell me the rest of the story which was pretty cool. He said the man said “my wife won’t stop cumming, what should I do? My wife won’t stop cumming what should I do?” That’s weird. It turns out his wife was having a seizure during sex and the man had an erection he couldn't get rid of. It was their 50^th wedding anniversary and the guy had taken her out and then popped a couple of Viagra to have sex. They had to take the old lady to the hospital. He also had seen a lot of stuff like gory subway accidents, car accidents, gunshots and stabbings in the Bronx. Then we discussed the fact that he was married and his marriage is like a business agreement – with sex and a business partnership of both people working. Not sure that I agree with this totally, perhaps my views were a little too serious for a casual conversation like this so I didn't bother to broach them I just said "uh ok yes that has virtues for sure."  I dropped him after a 1 hour ride, in W burg with apologies for such a run-up on the fare, then I picked up a group of older hipster types going to the movies and then another 2 girls headed into Manhattan to Alphabet City. After that I had a Danish model who was a very tall girl with bleached out white hair and a cute accent. The streets were crowded tonight.

    Towards the end of the night it began to get more crowded and crazier as is usually the case with a Saturday night as people began fighting for cabs on their way back home. I picked up these two Australian girls from the club Greenhouse. This was about 4am. One of them was a skinny blonde wearing black stretch pants while the other girl was a bit taller/bigger, wearing super-high black heels and an outfit covered by a trench coat. They were rip roaring having a good time and tanked like most people at this time. We made a left and went up 6^th Avenue and the girl with the trench coat said “maybe I should text this guy, I haven’t had dick in over 2 days” I laughed, then I started talking to them and they started trying to get to know me, but I could tell they were kind of trashed because they would sometimes ignore what I said and then suddenly ask the same question as a few seconds ago. They asked me the standard list of questions, where I’m from etc. She didn’t want me to think she was a totally whore because this was a guy she already knew. I asked if she had a boyfriend. She said “well yes but my situation is kind of odd because I’ve got this boyfriend who likes me but he kind of screwed up –we have some technical problems.” “What kind of problems? I asked. She responded “he’s too jealous. And I have this other guy who’s super cool that I like. I love Austrailian accents - they are cute. I laughed, this was in reference to what she said earlier. Then she goes into a discussion of this booty call guy who I thought was the other guy she mentioned above.  I made a turn towards Park Avenue instead of 3^rd so I could stretch out the ride a bit while the conversation got progressively dirtier. Then a few minutes later she asked me the same question again, she leaned over the partition and in a joking manner said which guy should I go with "What type of girls do you go for?" I responded, just average skinny white girls. "What are your hobbies?" She asked. "Well I like the outdoors."   Her friend was skinny and cute but was too busy trying to stick her head out the window yelling at some other guy on the street.  We stopped and exchanged #s in the neighborhood of Gramercy. That was it. Enough hookers for tonight I’m going to bed.

Top 10 Weirdest Sights Seen While Driving a Taxi

Hello again, from John Doe at New York City's Craziest Taxi Stories! Summertime has rolled around in NYC and just as in years past, many Manhattanite dwellers have left for the Hamptons and other jetset spots for vacation. Some of these are replaced by out of state tourists but the city is generally quiet and a bit slower than in the normal time of year. I have continued to put in a few shifts a week while also doing other part-time jobs and I've continued to enjoy the series of random, weird, sexual, and ridiculous events and people that are streaming into and out of my taxi cab while at the same time bringing in the $.  Lately, I've been thinking of writing a bit more about some of the strangest things I've seen while driving a taxi around New York City for 12 hours a day or night - that is, things I've seen outside the taxi, including fights, accidents, freaks, weird coincidences flashers, transsexuals and so on. Here are a few I have come up with off the top of my head:

 1. Taunting the police. One afternoon as I was headed south on Columbus Avenue below 96th Street and I saw a man with a knife taunting police. He was gyrating and swinging the knife wildly, grabbing his crotch. It's not often you see these kinds of confrontations in Manhattan, especially in the middle of the afternoon. I drove on south looking for passengers while the police were still dealing with the man.

2. Snowed Under. Late one night, I was headed south on 9th Avenue in the West 30's. It was snowing on a weeknight with under an inch on the ground and hardly anyone was out. A club on the west side over near Marquee had just let out and there were quite a few African Americans waiting for a taxi but none of the yellow cabs driving south would pick them up. Some of them were even waving money in the air. I thought that was pretty surreal and quite embarrassing for all of these blacks. The reason was probably that the other cab drivers did not want to get stuck in an outer borough area with deep snow or icy hills.

3. Head Injury. Late one night, I saw a young man who was sitting in the road on 2nd Avenue in the East Village with his hair all messed up and blood on his head. A car nearby had a smashed windshield. The car had apparently struck the young man and was now stopped with the police nearby. Hopefully he was alright.

4. Drugs on the FDR.  Late one night I was coming back from Harlem down the FDR (the highway on the east side of Manhattan). As usual, nobody was on the road at that time of night, save me and a few other night owl cabbies. A car had crashed and in the back of the car I could see huge bundles of cocaine in the trunk, as it was smashed open. The NYPD was surrounding the car. The car with the drugs had apparently been involved in a chase and lost control and crashed.

5. Crazy Bicycle Rider.  Unfortunately, bicycle riders can be a nuisance to taxi drivers because they do not often follow the rules. The bike lanes can also be an extra nuisance to watch out for. One afternoon, I was going to make a turn from 2^nd Avenue onto 9^th Street, and then I saw a pedestrian hailing me. I stopped my taxi mid-turn. At that same moment I see a cyclist coming down the bike lane. My cab was partially in the bike lane so I just stopped and waited for the cyclist to pass me. Instead he hits my wheel well on my cab with a thud. Then he becomes angry and punches my windshield leaving a crack. I saw so shocked I didn’t even respond. Eventually he just moved his bike and rides on. I did not want to get cited for an accident so I just let him go. The passenger gets in and I drive him from A to B. It’s a possibility that the cyclist had rammed my taxi on purpose since he had plenty of room to see me in front of him! Really strange I thought.

6. Topless Parades.  I have seen two topless parades. One was in the West Village and was part of a small gay pride protest. The second was at a bar called Bowery Electric. Standing outside late one night were several groups of people, the closest consisted of two young ladies and a taller male companion. They were smoking cigarettes and talking with one another which is often the case with potential passengers outside of bars. This went on for another couple of minutes. The thinner girl then took off her jacket and held it by her side. She then lifted up her shirt for a second and turned towards me. I could see her black bra. She was very thin. Now what’s going on? I was wondering. She turned back then continued to talk with her friends. A minute later, this young lady took off her shirt and her bra and began walking along the sidewalk topless, with her clothes in her hand. This continued for about 6-8 blocks south on Bowery.

7. Knockout.  Violence isn't really my thing personally so I despise fights but I've witnessed a lot over the several years I've been driving. One night late night I was driving on 11^th Avenue near midtown in the 50s. There are a few clubs around this area and of course the drunks follow the clubs. I witnessed this confrontation. This thuggish guy approached this preppy looking bald man and argued with him. The thug then punched the preppy looking man and he fell into the street knocked out. His friends tried to wake him up but he just laid there. The thuggish man walked away. A few minutes later the bald man awoke and they hailed a cab and went on their way.

8. A “Big” Cross Dresser.  If you spend any time in NYC you will find there is a theme of tolerance for gays, lesbians, transsexuals, cross dressers, and anything else under the sun. There’s a club called Lips in midtown on East 56^th Street. http://www.lipsnyc.com/ Lips is a drag club where men dress up as women in a show in front of diners. One afternoon I picked up a “big” cross dresser in front of Lips. By big, I mean really big, a man who must’ve been at least 6’6’’ tall or so and big enough to be a football player with his blue wig he must've topped out at 7 feet, quite a site to see. I drove him to the East Village and let him out on East 14^th. I did not say a word to him.

9. Airport Rewind.  One afternoon I picked up two metrosexual wealthy type men in the East Village. I drove them to JFK Airport but traffic was pretty bad. We didn't make it in time for their flight at Delta Airlines, Terminal 2. It was probably because they were too relaxed about leaving in time. I drop them off anyway, and then go to the holding lot at JFK Airport. I spent about 30 minutes at the holding lot, get dispatched to Terminal 2, wait in line. About 10 minutes later I pull into the #1 position to pick up a passenger and it's the same two guys who missed their flight. One of them shakes his head “oh no, not this guy again.”

10. A “big” woman for sale.  Prostitution is actually not that common in NYC as it was in the olden days. One night, late night, I was driving through the Meatpacking/West Village area in the western part of Manhattan. However, tonight I drove by a “big” black woman who was for sale on the street corner. As I looked her way she undid her fur coat exposing her entire “big” completely nude body. No thanks, next.

A Taxi Shift on Crack, June 19, 2013

Welcome to another chapter of New York City’s Craziest Taxi stories. Tonight was a Wednesday night, a summer night in June, and distinctive because summer tends to be quieter in the city with more tourists and less traffic. For us taxi drivers that just makes us a bit more desperate, needing to scrape up whatever passengers we can find in order to make bank, including psychos, druggies, and criminals. Tonight, I was lucky enough to get a cab earlier in the afternoon. My first fare after coming across the Manhattan Bridge was a mother and daughter asking to go to the Empire State Building. Easy one. Welcome tourists. The ride was conversation free. After this one I turned around and near Grand Central, the major train station in NYC and I got a fatty going back across midtown to Penn Station, which is at 7^th Avenue and 32^nd/31^st Street. After this one I headed back north on 8^th Avenue. Here I saw two darkish males hailing me on the right side.  One of them was gangster looking, the other more average looking.  Should I stop or not? Better go ahead and stop – it could be a TLC undercover sting. They wanted to go to Richmond Hill, Queens which was a bad neighborhood near JFK Airport, oh no, here comes trouble!!! I said, “okay you know it’s gonna take about 50 minutes or so given we are near rush hour right?” They said okay. Then I asked them for a deposit. They responded handing me a $100 bill. Oh great, I thought I bet this is not legit either. I looked at the $100, holding it down so they wouldn't see that I was examining it. It seemed okay so I drove on. We encountered some traffic headed east near the Queens Midtown Tunnel, just sitting there for like 20 minutes. No fun because I've got a couple of hot potatoes in here now. Eventually we made it through the tunnel and onto the LIE, now we're stuck again, just waiting on the late afternoon tie up that plagues the LIE, everyday. I exit off Woodhaven Blvd. I notice them messing around with a colorful pipe and I realize at some point the gangster guy has lit the pipe. These two non-legit passengers have taken a taxi so that they can smoke crack in the back, great I thought! I hope that vapor doesn't make its way up front here. I cracked the windows. I didn't ask them to stop because I thought they might kill me. We continue on and I notice the gangster type guy has lost it, slurring his speech and falling around in the back. He was speaking with an accent and I'm not sure what country these two are from. Not a big fan of drugs myself because I’ve heard it can really mess you up but it’s something I encounter sometimes. I drive on. I stop at 114^th and Liberty in south Richmond Hill, eager to be rid of these two. There’s some ethnic looking people around. The fare was over $60 and we were driving for 1 hour or so. I give them the change for the $100. Exact change, no tip.

  

Next, I drive on down to JFK airport holding lot, which was conveniently only about 10 minutes from Richmond Hill. Luckily, the holding lot was only about 1/3 full so it shouldn't be that long of a wait. I get in line behind the other taxis. The dispatcher for JFK holding lot gets on the PA and asks for a 5-seater. I pull my van around and ask for the 5 passenger fare. The dispatcher then comes out of the office and tells me that my handicap van is not a legal 5-seater (technically it is, but 1 passenger must be in a wheelchair). Oops! I am rejected then I go back in line again, turning my van around. The TLC dispatcher, a middle aged African American woman, comes back and yells at me to exit holding lot, and go all the way to the back of the line. “You cannot make a U-turn in the taxi lot!” Oops! Double burn on this one. Luckily there was no ticket. Dispatcher yells, “oh god!” I wait my turn.  My next fare was an Australian family headed to a midtown hotel. Lots of Aussies visit NYC during the summer and it seems I pick up half of them. The patriarch sits up front and we proceed to discuss his tour of the United States. He speaks with a Britishy Aussie accent I think is cool. He tells me that he’s going to visit the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield. Then we proceed to discuss both the Civil War and the Revolutionary War in the United States. I discovered that Australia had never officially declared independence from England like the United States had in 1776 and it was still part of the British Commonwealth, something new to me. Then I tell them a few things about the sights and sounds I see behind the wheel of a taxi driving through NYC and about my encounter with the druggies earlier in the day.

After I drop them at the hotel a foreign couple gets in and asks me to drive across 45^th to go to some play. They tip low which is a total stereotype for summertime, luckily tonight I was booked up solid to make up for some of the low tips and the weather was fabulous tonight, which was to my liking. After a few more fares I met this interesting guy who told me a whacked story about a taxi he took in Mexico. I picked up him and his daughter on 14^th and we headed to Park Avenue and 37^th. He looked to be in his 40’s. He explained to me and his daughter that his fraternity in college went on vacation in Mexico and this was his first time going outside the US. They didn't want anyone to steal their money and wallets and passports so they put the wallets in the lighting fixture at the hotel and didn't turn the lights off.  The hotel caught on fire and they caused half the hotel to burn down, oops! They moved rooms to another wing of the hotel. The US consulate replaced all the money lost plus more that they said they didn’t have on the order of $10,000 worth of US dollars. What about the taxi I thought? The last night of the trip the owner of hotel said they could go and get a buffet, eating or drinking anything they wanted due to the misfortune. The owner did not discover they had actually caused the fire. So they drank up a storm. The bill was $35,000 but the frat boys thought it was all you can drink for free so they stiffed the hotel on the bill. Now here is where they meet the taxi driver. The taxi driver drove them away from the hotel after they stiffed the owner. On the way back to the airport the hotel owner chased them down and the taxi got a flat tire. The taxi driver went to change the tire but didn't want to let frat boys go so they could escape. Instead the biggest frat guy then punches the taxi driver who goes out cold onto the pavement they then grab the luggage from the trunk and get another taxi. They race to the airport and make it onto the airplane without getting caught. Wow, triple burn on this one – hotel owner, driver, and US consulate to the tune of 45 grand!

Later on into the night, I had some pretty good luck, financially. Summer is slow so you never know if you'll be able to make bank for the night.  I drove a white collar type guy to 113^th and Broadway, then I headed back south where I stopped for this other group of ethnic looking people probably Puerto Ricans. As brutal as it sounds, these are “leftovers” for summertime. Not the typical yellow cab taxi passengers but gotta take what I can get from anyone. I drive them north to 143^rd and Broadway. After this I head south and grabbed two guys at Metro North on 125^th. I take them to Crown Heights, a nice, long, expensive ride. A livery guy quoted them $50 and I said, hmm I’m not sure how much it’ll be, maybe $40 or $45? On the way there I tried to give them a tour of some neighborhoods as they were shopping for an affordable apartment in NYC, a search I have personally conducted myself. I told them the hot areas for an affordable place would probably be Bushwick or that I might also consider the western part of Harlem, around Columbia U. If I wanted to go further out into Brooklyn or Queens there are probably more choices. They asked me about the Bronx and I said that was probably bad news as in my experience that’s probably the most dangerous borough of NYC. We chatted all the way through the Hasidic portion of Williamsburg, and then we stopped in Crown Heights and rang up a $60 fare.Oops, way more than $45! I got their bags out of the back, and then I drove a few blocks and picked up a young lady who then took me to Park Slope area after what appeared to be the end of a date. She left without saying a word, then I got two assholes who took me from Park Slope to the West Village, They were drunk and if I’m not mistaken one of them still had a glass in his hand from the bar. I completely ignored the belligerent one who was harassing me about not passing somebody and rest of the conversation they were having with each other about BS topics. The friendlier one took up the slack and paid once we got to The Village. As soon as they got out a couple got in and took me downtown to the Financial District. They seemed interesting and fit the stereotype of the monied youthful and upper middle class working professional types. The male tried to make some friendly small talk with me and asked me how my night was going. I responded by telling them it was pretty busy and I had some luck. Then he mentioned that James Gandolphini died tonight from a heart attack. I was like “yes, wow! That’s too bad.”

My little string of lucky fares added up to way over $150 or so and my luck wasn't ending yet. Immediately after the couple exited I spotted a curvy young woman with big breasts in a conversation with some other cabbie immediately ahead of me. They did not strike a deal so I pulled alongside. I wanted this young lady in my cab and I knew it was probably some out of town trip somewhere. Right on the money - Jersey City. She said $50 without tip plus toll that wasn't much but I didn't care it was plenty for now. We headed up 6^th Avenue toward the Holland Tunnel. Enter stage right - some sex-related conversation from a drunk girl. Same bullsh*t, different night. The girl was stone drunk and blabbering a bit. She was a friendly young woman from PA. She started going on about how she was hooking up with this guy and that they had a spat about some stuff being said over text messaging. The context of what she was saying was not totally clear, but the dispute was over birth control. She was talking about birth control. Something about the pill making her moody or something. The she had told me about how she had gotten pregnant last year when she wasn't on the pill. I was like, this is TMI. This girl was tanked, but eventually the conversation moved to other topics and we got stuck in the tunnel because they were cleaning one part of the tube. Then we stopped at some deli in NJ. After this she got out and I went back to Manhattan. 

  

By the time I got back to the city it was getting pretty late and things were dying down. On Hudson Street headed north I picked up another young lady who took me to East Midtown. She didn't say a word. Then I picked up a few more forgettable types one of whom was a flaming homosexual with a suitcase and tattoos. He said hello, but my voice was getting hoarse from all the previous conversations I had had and also because of a cold I caught from running the AC in my apartment for too long at night. Then I headed over to meatpacking to close the night out with the club scene. Here, I found some guy who worked at one of the clubs there. We were talking about how it’s much cooler to go out on a Wednesday night rather than a weekend because of all the meatheads from Jersey and Yonkers clogging up the streets on a Saturday night. The he started telling me about the dope he used to do with some celebrities and who go there, people like Justin Bieber, Jim Carrey, Ray Liotta, Leonardo DiCaprio, and so on. I asked him about the Bentleys parked out front. He said those belonged to some obnoxious drug dealers who frequented the club and not the celebrity types. My last fare consisted of two super sexy Scandinavian tourists who were gibbering to each other in Swedish. They were both hot and skinny. I was too exhausted to try to converse with these two girls so I just went home and went to bed thus concluding another shift of NYC’s Craziest Taxi Stories.

A Few Taxi Odds and Ends & Hurricane Sandy Video

Hello again from John Doe at New York City's Craziest Taxi Stories! There's not really a good story about shift here for this blog post. I've posted below a video I made during Halloween night and a few weird happenings from recent shifts.

    

Winter time has been cold and dark in New York City, but luckily we have not had much snow because taxi driving in snow and making money is really hard. I have continued to put in a few shifts a week while also doing other part-time jobs and I've continued to enjoy the series of random, weird, sexual, and ridiculous events and people that are streaming into and out of my taxi cab while at the same time bringing in the $.  

Katarina Ivanovska: Just recently while I was cruising the Meatpacking District, I picked up Katerina Ivanovska from Macedonia, the model who is the face is Victorias Secret. I told her that I thought she looked familar and she looked tall and skinny like a model so I assumed - lots of models in NYC. She sat up front with me while her Macedonian girlfriends sat in the back. They were not as tall as her but were just as hot. As is typical with most pretty girls she asked me if she could break the rules by smoking in the car. This time I was able to say no (not usually the case), since there were a lot of cops out tonight. We had a conversation a bit of smalltalk. nothing more really. I let her out at 17th and 10th Avenue at a restaurant called Cafeteria. For a few more cute babes who are famous, check out my celebrities section:

Katarina Ivanovska

A few other interesting passengers, lets see, I picked up a guy who runs a site and club called The Social Man. http://www.thesocialman.com/ Its a club that is really designed to teach shy guys how to pick up women. They also have some videos on www.youtube.com if you search under The Social Man. Kind of interesting videos and tips. They recommend being fun, dominant, chill, and intriguing in order to be attractive to women. Ehh, interesting tips but not sure that I agree with that totally. I think the key really is just two things, be confident in who you are, and know how to talk to women, especially ones that are strangers, then finally, relax and enjoy, thats it really. 

  

Here's another interesting mini-story. Got some money from a rich guy. Usually they can be a bit stingy. One night, I had a breakdown during rush hour. It happened in a bad spot at Meeker and Morgan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If you have any experience with Brooklyn traffic patterns, that intersection is right where the BQE exits onto Meeker Ave and there was tons of cars trying politely to pass my broken down brand new cab. The alternator on my van went bad, as is sometimes the case with these van cabs. So I had to have it towed back to the garage in Brooklyn and this cost me an hours worth of time during rush hour. Later on into the shift I picked up a guy from Park Avenue. Now Park Avenue types usually don't wanna chit chat with cab drivers or tip us well. I would describe them as overly formal passengers, you know just treating you as an employee. Well this guy asked me how it was going and I said I had a breakdown earlier in the night that cost me 1 hour but what can you do, sh*t happens. When we stopped at his doormanned building on Park Avenue, he handed me a $50 for a $8.00 ride and says thats yours to make up for the breakdown. Wow I thought, I was speechless! Thanks.

Hello guys, I want to show you a video I made during Hurricane Sandy, although this has been about 6 months ago. It was one of the weirdest nights to drive a taxi. There was no power, rush hour had HUGE traffic jams and hardly anyone was out on Halloween. It was surreal! I had a fare from the UES to Williamsburg that ended up costing $100 when it normally should've been $40 because of a huge traffic jam. Normally, there is a big Halloween parade in Greenwich Village but they canceled it this year. There was snow that night as well as a gas shortage in NYC. I had to ride the bus in order to get to the taxi garage because the subways were not running during hurricane. Here is the video:

It's also on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60qQHv-o1PQ