Previous | Next :: New York Taxi Halloween Fun : Meat Packing District : NYC | November 16, 2009, 11:51 pm

Well Ive been gone from NYC so long people think Im not coming back....... :-/ ...... Its crazy...... I gotta get home...... JE's phone is down..... Amin and Candy has given up talking to me...... MinhTu cant believe Im still away....... Greg has rolled off in the Beast car...... I have not seen a yellow cab for weeks....... its doin my brains in now......... Hey I even missed the Halloween Parade...... now thats just nutz.........so heres a mega happy one from before........ combining a bit of yellow cab and Halloween Partying.........

Stuff is happening in NYC good and bad........ and I don't even know whats goin down .......... I've got to get back home.......... I want to see yellow cabs and my friends..........

Today..... here in London ...... I got a press release from the NYC Taxi Worker's Alliance inviting me to a press conference to let media folks speak to taxi driver Ndiaye Serigne who had a completely different experience of Halloween........ He was sadly attacked by a group of passengers on Halloween night ......... which is a terrible thing...... my picture above has the happy side of Halloween for drivers and others but Ndiaye Serigne was having the completely opposite experience......... robbed and beaten by young men wearing Halloween Masks he said he felt lucky to still be alive ....... as I was reading the press release the danger of being a driver alone with sometimes dangerous members of the public started to sink in.........

"The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is calling for state legislation that would mandate prosecution of assaults and other crimes against taxi drivers a felony. A similar law already exists for on-duty transit workers and traffic agents."

"Taxi driving has been classified by the Department of Labor as one of the most dangerous professions in the country, with drivers being 60 times more likely to be killed on the job than other workers. Driver Zawar Jaffri lost his eye sight temporarily after a female passenger attempting to run away before paying the fare sprayed mace in his eyes and ears on October 7th at 8:00 am in Brooklyn. "The public has no fear to do anything against us. They think we are alone," said Mr. Jaffri. "At least if we had a sticker saying a crime against the driver is a felony up to seven years in jail, right next to the passenger bill of rights, they would know that the driver is also an equal human being." "

Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXX

www.jezblog.com