The city has seized a record number of bogus cabs hustling for customers at JFK through a new enforcement base that was launched at the airport this fall.
Since the base opened in October, Taxi and Limousine Commission inspectors have seized 530 illegal cabs — more than five times the number taken in the same period last year.
“JFK is an exceptionally active transportation hub,” said Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky. “And for that reason, it is a magnet for illegal for-hire activity.”
In all, 980 illegal cabs have been taken off the streets since July at JFK and La Guardia airports.
A team of plainclothes inspectors from Squad 15 hits the terminals at around 4 a.m., targeting cabbies who prey on business people arriving on red-eye flights.
“There’s a culture of people who want to do this illegal activity, and they focus on the airports where you get the most people coming,” said Ray Scanlon, deputy commissioner of the TLC’s Uniformed Services Bureau. “People [from] out of town who don’t know the rules.”
Cabbies trying to poach business from licensed TLC cabs can be very aggressive. “You’re tired after five, six hours on the plane and getting your baggage — and you’re getting hawked by all these people,” Scanlon said.
Some of the hustlers have a checkered past and can’t get licenses, while others are too impatient to go through the licensing process.
“We know a lot better now the comings, goings, and where to concentrate our activity,” said Scanlon. That’s because his agency coordinates with the Port Authority for information on airport traffic — both on the ground and in the air.
Having a permanent home at JFK has made enforcement much more efficient, according to the TLC.
Before, the officers had worked out of their Woodside headquarters — which is a quick trip from La Guardia, but not from JFK.
In addition to the base, the TLC credits its record number of illegal-cab seizures to a March contract signed with Knights Towing, which now picks up seized cars and impounds them.
The contract frees the agency’s inspectors to focus on enforcement.