Who says government can’t get things done? Take taxis, for example.
The pols have been palavering for many months now in a purported effort to get more cabs on the streets, especially in the outer boroughs.
Rewind to Mayor Bloomberg’s 2011 State of the City Address (a full 18 months ago) for news of his plan for more cabs, particularly outside Manhattan.
“Why shouldn’t someone in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island be able to hail a legal cab on the street?” Bloomberg asked. And he vowed to create “a new category of livery cars” for street pickups in the outer boroughs.
The city would sell more taxi medallions, too, to meet rider demand.
Meanwhile, he folded fully $1.4 billion in one-shot revenues from medallion sales into the city’s new budget.
So: Exactly how many more cabs are legally on the roads today? How many more can pick up street hails outside Midtown?
Zero.
Yes, the city is set to sell some 2,000 more yellow-cab medallions and 18,000 permits for street-hail cabs.
Alas, no less than four — that’s right, four — lawsuits are blocking action.
Absolute paralysis, right? Not exactly.
But wait.
Somehow, somebody managed to slip a 17 percent fare hike into the mix, to take effect Sept. 4.
Same old service.
Higher price.
New York, NY — it’s a helluva town.