New York City taxis should be green instead of yellow.
Taxi-medallion owners are among the biggest political donors in town, spreading their wealth from City Hall to the State House — and often getting their money’s worth in return, The Post has learned.
Over the years, the deep-pocketed industry — currently rallying to squash a Mayor Bloomberg-backed state bill to allow metered liveries to pick up hails in the outer boroughs — has doled out enough cash to hop a cab from Canarsie to California.
“Everyone is taking money from the industry,” said Edward Rogoff, a Baruch College professor who has studied the medallion system.
Medallion owners, who have long said the livery bill could severely devalue their investments, dumped a combined $22,000 into the coffers of the New York State Senate Democratic Campaign just a month after the Senate passed the measure, according to a Post review of public documents.
Now, after those donations have been made, several key backers of the bill have said they no longer support it.
One pol popular with the industry is state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), who received more than $22,000 from 2000 to 2009.
Gianaris was one of the few Democrats who voted against the plan to bring livery taxis to the outer boroughs.
Even Gov. Cuomo has received more than $100,000 from the industry over the years. Of that, he’s gotten $30,000 since the livery bill passed the state Legislature.
He has yet to sign the bill, and a spokesman said the donations would have no bearing on his decision.
Overall, the bill is in limbo, and could be scheduled for a massive overhaul.
Cozying up to pols has helped the industry maximize profits and stymie change for decades, Rogoff said.
One example is its success at preventing legislation that would allow non-yellow cabs from having meters, roof lights, and the ability to do airport pickups.
“From the public’s point of view, [opposing those ideas] makes no sense,” Rogoff said.
“But from the medallion industry’s point of view, they protect their monopoly.”
Another one of the industry’s most successful battles was convincing City Hall to change medallion-lease rules in the 1990s.
Owners pressured City Hall to make drivers independent contractors — instead of employees — which eliminated the need to provide expensive benefits packages.
“I’ve given to campaigns for over 20 years,” said Andrew Murstein, whose family owns several hundred medallions and operates Medallion Financial, a taxi-financing company that boasts former Gov. Mario Cuomo on its board.
“I just have an interest in what’s best for New York. I don’t look at it in terms of the industry.”