‘My children ask me, ‘What is this? I want to go to a gentlemen’s club?’ What should I answer?’ — Cabby Mohan Singh at the TLC monthly meeting yesterday (Emily Berl)
When it comes to smut, these cabbies just can’t hack it!
Racy strip-club ads plastered on top of yellow cabs are leaving modest drivers pink with embarrassment, saying they’re ashamed to face their kids and friends during their off time.
Now, sheepish cabbies said they’ve had enough of the lingerie-clad temptresses, and they’re demanding the city revise the rules to eliminate the humiliating ads.
Cabby Mohan Singh said his grandkids noticed a placard featuring a chesty woman in a “small bra” atop his cab.
“My children ask me, ‘What is this? I want to go to a gentlemen’s club?’ ” Singh moaned at the monthly TLC meeting yesterday. “What should I answer?”
Others fumed that promoting jiggle joints left them self-conscious while tooling about in conservative communities.
“I see family and friends and I feel embarrassed,” said Osman Chowdhury, a cabby for the past 15 years and leader of the Bangladesh Society in Queens, who uses the cab he owns while off-duty.
“It’s made a lot of Muslims uncomfortable. It’s a free society, but we have no choice [about having the ads on their cars],” said Chowdhury.
Under the current rules, the owner of a taxi’s medallion decides whether or not to put ads on the roof of the car.
Even drivers who own their vehicles but have to lease their expensive medallion currently have no say as to what goes on top of their cars.
But they could finally get the change they’ve been looking for.
TLC Commissioner David Yassky said yesterday he favors letting drivers who own their taxis but lease medallions have veto power on putting ads on their car.
Opponents shot back, though, that medallion owners should have the final say, since they are responsible for many of the costs and liabilities in the fleet.
The TLC will vote on the issue when it convenes in September.
At a Hess gas station on 10th Avenue and West 45th Street in Manhattan, many taxis were sporting erotic ads — and not one cabby was happy about it.
“I don’t like women exposing themselves sexually on top of my business,” said Alseeny Sagno, a cabdriver from The Bronx with an ad for Flashdancers strip club on top of his vehicle.
“I’m an honorable man trying to run an honorable business!” he said.