Metro

‘Stickup’ artist strikes city cabs

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Cab passengers are getting sticker shock — and not just from the price on the meter.

A rogue street artist is using yellow cabs as his personal canvas — replacing the generic image of a man hailing a taxi with the likes of Moses, Mr. T and several other famous figures.

Troubled by “blank spaces,” and the notion that the current faceless figure could represent all New Yorkers, the artist known as “the Tailor” has adhered stickers with the revamped icons to hundreds of cabs.

“I’m just adding a touch of personality,” the artist told The Post. “I’m not anti-establishment or anything, but I found it depressing that the man is telling us that ‘this icon is you.’ ”

After carefully measuring the logo on a parked taxi, he designed 10 images, including the Statue of Liberty, Where’s Waldo and Wonder Woman.

He determined the locations where the most taxis congregate, then went out “under cover of the night, which seemed safest,” and slapped the stickers on the passenger doors of several hundred cabs.

“I did the passenger doors so the driver didn’t have to see it,” he said. “I don’t know if I can get to every cab in the city, but I’d like to do a lot more.”

By day, the Tailor works in marketing for a Fortune 500 company.

“But this is a chance for me to express my creative side,” he said. “This is not vandalism like spraying graffiti — the stickers are easily removable.”

The TLC was not convinced, and is determined to make sure the artist’s yellow period is short-lived.

“He is defacing privately owned property, and taxicab owners and drivers are left to restore the appearance of the taxi in the course of doing business,” TLC Commissioner David Yassky said. “It’s disrespectful of the rights of others, and it should stop immediately.”

The Tailor has already prepared another set of images to impose on the taxi icon, including Spider-Man, a Hasidic guy, a city cop, a firefighter and Mickey Mouse.

jeremy.olshan@nypost.com