Who needs Facebook?
New Yorkers are making new friends and business partners in the back seats of shared taxicabs.
In just its second day, the cab-sharing program proved to be a great networking tool for several riders commuting yesterday from the Upper East Side to Midtown.
David Alper, a hedge-fund manager, and Adam Gehrie, a corporate financial-services lawyer, swapped business cards and agreed to set up a power lunch after grabbing a group ride from the stand at 72nd Street and Third Avenue.
POST REPORTER GOES UNDERCOVER TO TEST CAB SHARING
“We should get together,” Alper suggested as the two exited their ride at 42nd and Park, the farthest the discounted rides will take up to four passengers
Along the way, they bantered about their educations: Gehrie said he attended Georgetown Law School, while Alper reported on his days at Antioch Law, both in Washington, DC.
“It’s a lot of fun to meet new people. I’d do it again,” Gehrie said.
Alper said he was already a fan of the Wall Street run, a similar-though-unofficial service that leaves from 79th Street and York Avenue each morning.
“It’s great. It allows us to enjoy having your own ride without having to battle the minions on public transportation,” he said.
But both Upper East Side residents agreed: The Taxi and Limousine Commission should stack more group rides on the East Side because of the overcrowded Lexington Avenue subway line and the traffic congestion from Second Avenue Subway construction.
TLC officials said they were already looking to expand the program, even though it hadn’t drawn many riders in its first two days.
“I’m glad to see that people are taking advantage of it,” said outgoing TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus, calling it a chance for “business networking or friendship.”
“It’s one of the things we anticipated.”
Another pair became fast friends, finding common ground talking about how they were both late for work.
Sarah Hewitt, a corporate lawyer, and Alexandra Winterfeldt, who works at Sony Music, both admitted they were supposed to be at work at 9:30 a.m., even though they were still en route at 9:45.
Hewitt, who’s single, also quipped that she hoped to find “a cute guy” some day in one of the shared rides.