Watch what you wear, ladies — or it’ll get a lot harder to hail a cab.
A bizarre bill that would force cabbies to take a course teaching them to identify hookers has hit a speed bump after sex-worker advocates said the legislation would make it hard for prostitutes — and anyone who dresses like one — to get taxi service.
The unprecedented bill — which would impose $10,000 fines on cabbies who enable prostitution by driving working girls around — was supposed to be voted on several weeks ago, but was held up, in part to alleviate the concerns.
The overall cost of the program to the city would be $2.2 million.
“We were concerned that drivers might not pick up sex workers who they thought or assumed might be doing that kind of work,” said Sienna Baskin of the Sex Workers Project. “That might lead to discrimination.”
The bill’s sponsor, City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, ended up adding language that specifies cabbies won’t be penalized for simply taking a fare — no matter who it is — or for failing to investigate illegal activities that might happen in their taxis.
Ferreras is slated to bring the amended bill to the Women’s Issues Committee for a vote today.
The course is needed because sex traffickers often use livery taxis to transport victims to and from johns, often paying the driver half of the fee received for the illicit sex, said Laurel Eisner, executive director of Sanctuary for Families.
“I know there’s been criticism that it [the bill] will catch people just getting a fare,” she said.
“But I think this will be very specific that promoting prostitution is against the law. We want it to be clear.”