Drowned by debt, New York taxi drivers go on hunger strike

The iconic yellow taxis of New York They are suffocated by debt and unfair competition from Uber and other rental platforms, and following the suicide of nine colleagues in recent years, they have launched a protest, including hunger strikes, to force the city to reduce its costs. economic charges.

For eight days, drivers of these taxis, so linked to the image of New York like the Statue of Liberty, they took the extreme step of not eating and sleeping in their vehicles, a few meters from the City Hall, waiting for the mayor Bill de Blasio accept their proposal to reduce debt, which for some may be more than $ 700,000 for your taxi license.

There they have erected an altar with nine candles and flowers and the names of many other colleagues who have died since 2017, desperate for not being able to pay their debts.

The former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, decided to increase the number of “medallions” -as these licenses are known by their appearance-, which until then had cost between 110,000 and 140,000 dollars, and called several ad hoc auctions, in which the price of the licenses was inflated by creating a bubble.

Bloomberg said it was like “Buy a little piece of the Big Apple”, which for taxi drivers, a sector dominated by foreigners -and of them, 40% are Asian- represented “The opportunity to live the American dream”, Víctor Salazar, an Ecuadorian with three decades at the wheel and a debt of $ 300,000, told Efe.

And while the debt for the “medallion”Went up, the entry of Uber, Lyft and other car rental platforms over the past decade made things more difficult: they flooded the streets with their new permits, reduced the profits of drivers “Classics” and devalued the value of “Medallions”.

When the pandemic arrived, Víctor Salazar could not continue paying his “medallion”- his debt was about $ 2,000 a month, not counting gas and car insurance – and he lost it. There are many other cases like Salazar’s.

Quadratullah Saberry, an Afghan, has been driving for three decades and at age 70 still owes $ 300,000, so he went on a hunger strike: “I have high blood pressure and diabetes, and if I don’t eat regularly I will probably collapse, but I take the risk. Nine drivers have died ”, remember.

The media congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez He has echoed his case, recalling that more than two years ago there was a warning about predatory loans to taxi drivers: “They are drowning in debt. And sadly, some have ended their lives. They need a rescue NOW “stated in Twitter.

THAT THE CITY COUNCIL IS GUARANTEED

The taxi drivers have proposed that the city, to which the Taxis and Limousine Commission that regulates the sector belongs, be the guarantor of the loans, which would be restructured to a principal amount of no more than $ 145,000, with monthly payments of $ 800.

The proposal has the support of the New York delegation in Congress, including the Democratic leader in the federal Senate Chuck Schumer, who along with Ocasio-Cortez has sent a letter to De Blasio asking for the support of the city for the workers. of the steering wheel.

“We will not leave the street until justice is done”, Bhairavi Desai, leader of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), which represents 25,000 workers, half yellow taxis, insisted today in a demonstration that was attended by the Ombudsman, Jumanne Wiliams, and in which the drivers they shouted “no more deaths” and demanded a financial rescue.

Desai, also on a hunger strike, warned that if the crisis is not resolved, many will end up bankrupt, lose their only income and even their homes.

The city has proposed a total aid of 65 million dollars, that the taxi drivers consider that it is insignificant to reduce its debt and they insist on its proposal.

“The city has created this crisis. His (rescue) plan would leave drivers earning less than minimum wage. It is unacceptable”stated the Ombudsman.