Over $350 million of taxi medallion debt has been forgiven below town’s Medallion Aid Program for distressed cabbies, Mayor Eric Adams introduced Tuesday.
Almost 1,800 cabbies with loans from Marblegate Asset Administration have seen their loans restructured, wiping $356 million in debt from the books and enabling extra monetary stability for the mostly-immigrant taxi driving workforce.
“With $350 million in debt relief for nearly 1,800 taxi medallion owners already, our administration is finally ending the taxi medallion crisis and turning the tide for hard-working taxi drivers who provide New Yorkers and visitors with both an essential and a quintessential New York experience,” Hizzoner stated in an announcement.
“It has been a truly rewarding and emotional experience watching hard-working drivers regain their hope and a sustainable income after receiving this critical support,” stated Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Do.
The hyper-inflated market worth of a taxi medallion collapsed throughout the 2010s as rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft arrived within the metropolis, offering cabbies with severe competitors. The difficulty was exacerbated by revelations town and main lenders purposely pumped up the price of a medallion within the years earlier than the collapse, main many cabbies to monetary spoil and, in some instances, suicide.
After rejecting a deal negotiated by former Mayor Invoice de Blasio, cabbies launched into a 15-day starvation strike outdoors Metropolis Corridor searching for a greater settlement, which they in the end gained. Marblegate agreed to cap all mortgage balances at a most of $170,000, with month-to-month funds to not exceed $1,234.
“The Medallion Relief Program remains a lifeline for thousands of families, and its continued success gives us more hope for the remaining lenders to come on board,” stated Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Employees Alliance, a union repping hundreds of cabbies. “We’re so thankful Mayor Adams made this serious commitment to our members, who give all they have to make our city run.”
In November, yellow cab drivers secured their first increase in a decade, profitable will increase in base and per-unit fares as inflation triggered cost-of-living to soar. Their colleagues driving Ubers and Lyfts additionally noticed their pay raised by the TLC, however that increase is on maintain pending the outcome of a lawsuit by Uber.