NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City is offering relief money for taxi medallion owners facing significant debt, but outraged drivers are calling for a much more robust plan.
Earlier this month, the city began handing out debt relief money as part of a new $65 million Medallion Relief Program (MRP), which was created following multiple reports detailing how taxi drivers were suckered into predatory loans that greatly benefited the city.
“The first 26 participants of the Medallion Relief Program have received over $5 million in debt forgiveness and cancellation,” said Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk, the Commissioner and Chair of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.
The money is designed to help drivers rework their loans but, drivers have been holding continuous protests outside City Hall for the last week, demanding more assistance.
Some said that the money offered by the city is just a drop in the bucket.
“Your numbers do not add up. We wish to God that they did,” said Bhairavi Desai, of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “We're calling for you to pass a guarantee that will remove the risk off the backs of the drivers.”
Jarmoszuk, noted that the yellow cab is an iconic symbol of New York City – and drivers deserve financial help.
“A strong healthy taxi industry is critical to the city's recovery,” she said. “We have a common goal to once and for all address the debt issue many are facing. We may not at all agree on how to achieve that goal, but it behooves us to work together.”
City officials contend that solution isn't fiscally possible.
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