A Chinese chauffeur who was driving his elderly white boss in Midtown claims racial profiling led city inspectors to seize his car and accuse him of being an illegal hack.
Joseph Zhenguo Lu, who has been 82-year-old Mary Ann Spinale’s driver for 24 years, was chauffeuring her in his personal SUV on a snowy January afternoon when TLC taxi inspectors stopped him in Midtown for going through a yellow light, he said.
“In my case, they see a Chinese person driving a white lady in the back and they think I’m trying to make a buck,” he fumed.
Agents issued him a summons for driving a cab illegally and seized his car — even though he tried to explain that he’s worked for Spinale for decades.
Lu, 51, opted to pay $1,200 to get his car out of the tow yard but claimed because of his bad English he didn’t realize he was also pleading guilty to the summons.
He filed a notice of claim in March with the city comptroller’s office to get the money back but it was denied. A TLC spokesman said the agency hasn’t yet received Lu’s claim.