by Devi Zinzuvadia
Devi Zinzuvadia/Radio Documentary/NYC Taxi Drivers
INTRO: There are thousands of taxi drivers in New York City, and they are often taken for granted by their passengers. Manhattanites rely on cheap cab fares to move easily around the city. After several years of protest by drivers, the Taxi and Limousine Commission voted to raise fares by 26 percent. Devi Zinzuvadia goes behind the scenes and gives us a look at a day in the life of one of these forgotten cabbies.
NARR: with driving ambience coming up under
Rizwan Raja came to America from Pakistan in 1996. In his native country, he was an accountant. But here, for the past seven years, he spends 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, ferrying around New Yorkers in a hurry. Raja says that he starts off most nights at a deficit that he may or may not make back.
TAPE: Raja
So there is no guaranteed income but a guaranteed expenditure. That's a big stress. You start off minus $125, because a hundred dollars is your gate money and 25 dollars for the gas.
NARR:
Raja is one of more than 12,000 cab drivers in the city of New York, many of whom emigrated to the U.S. from South Asia. He estimates he earns somewhere between 8 and 10 dollars an hour. With the new fare increase that will come in to effect on May 4, he hopes to take home close to 12 to 14 dollars an hour. While he welcomes the guaranteed increase, Raja notes that a driver's life is still very difficult.
TAPE: Raja
They are not paying for my retirement, they are not paying for my health insurance, they are not paying for my car repairs. I am doing everything.
NARR:
Raja and his wife and their four year old son Hassan live in a $1200 2 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. Raja says his wife does not work outside the home so she can be there for Hassan, who is not yet old enough to go to school. Raja makes just enough for rent and to pay his family's bills, and notes that he has his hands full with Hassan.
TAPE: Raja
Making like 12 or 14 dollars an hour and raising one child in this city is really tough. I don't know how people can raise more than one.
NARR: sound up
On a recent Monday, it is a typical day for Raja. He begins the second stretch of his shift at 10pm, near the Fashion Institute of Technology on 27th and 7th. He quickly drives down through the Flatiron District, and finds nothing. 40 minutes pass without a fare. He soon makes it to the heart of the city, Times Square.
TAPE:
And even here you see how many cabs are empty. And even here, it totally looks like - it is a yellow street basically. Running around... People are, um... It is mostly yellow cabs. It's not that great volume in Times Square. It is not bumper to bumper. It is moving, but...
NARR:
Raja gives up on Times Square, and moves quickly downtown to Union Square.
TAPE:
We'll go to the Union Square West. There are a couple of restaurants, cafes there. It's a very popular spot, but if it is slow, you will see a line of cabs waiting outside of that Blue Water Grill. Let's see...
NARR:
Raja scans the street with his eyes, and slows to a near stop by the Coffee Shop.
TAPE: Raja
See, there's one cab out there, he's waiting. And... A lot of pedestrians. Well let's see if we can grab some passengers...
NARR:
But there are no takers. Raja swings back around 15th street, and heads north to the W hotel, hoping to find some fares outside the Underbar. But there is no one. So he continues north on Park Avenue, gaining speed as he flies through the empty streets. The usual hotspots, such as the theater district or Greenwich Village, prove fruitless. And the search continues. A fifteen dollar fare takes Raja to lower Manhattan, where he is hopeful his luck will continue. At least for a short time.
TAPE: Raja
So now we are in the world financial center area, so let's go around there, maybe we can catch another office worker. An investment banker going home late, which they all do. (And after - they are basically waiting for the Japanese market to open.)
NARR:
We slow to a stop in front of Merrill Lynch, where a line of idling black town cars await passengers.
TAPE: Raja
Let's see - now, these limos are waiting for them.. That's Merrill Lynch - and now this guy... No, he's going to a limo. He was coming out of the building, so I thought maybe he was looking for a cab. But, no... I guess nobody is around here...
NARR:
Raja gives up, after weaving through TriBeCa for 15 minutes. He heads back to troll the avenues, and encounters another problem on 6th.
TAPE:
Rizwan: Wooohooo! laughing...
NARR:
A black Honda speeds the wrong way down 6th avenue. Raja maneuvers out of the way.
TAPE: Raja
This does happen once in a while. But it is usually out-of-towners rather than drunk drivers. But sometimes it is drunk drivers.
NARR:
Other hazards of the road present themselves. Back at Times Square, a motorcyclist weaves in and out of traffic. Raja looks on as the motorcycle speeds up.
TAPE: Sound of motorcycle.
TAPE: Raja
Yeah... motorcycles. I mean, I really get scared of them. I am really careful about them, and also I get scared of their speed basically. If they fall on the street, it is disastrous.
NARR:
Competition among drivers also ramps up as the night wears on with very few fares to be found. Raja eventually comes upon another taxi driver who is staking out a corner of Park Avenue, completely blocking it with his cab.
TAPE: Raja
This is the sign of desperation. What happens is, now, I am standing in the lane closer to the street.
NARR:
Raja is prevented by the other driver from reaching the curb to collect passengers, if there were any passengers to collect.
TAPE: Raja
Any fare that comes out closer to the building, I should be able to get it. But it looks like business is so bad, the guy, because there was some open space in the parking lane, he went in to the parking lane to stop me from getting the fare. If there is a fare coming from that building, he will be the first to get it.
NARR:
Raja collects just four fares during this Monday evening shift. The tips from these fares, which range from $6 to $15, leave him disappointed and concerned that he will not earn enough for the night.
TAPE:
It is mostly the change. If it is like 4.40, people give you five. Even 4.90, sometimes, they give you five. And I tell you, in these economic times, I see more and more people giving me less tips than big tips. The whole night tonight I have such a hard time. I have not had even one person tipping me more than a dollar today. And that's very typical.
NARR:
Some drivers say they drive taxis because do not have other options open to them. Others enjoy the somewhat flexible schedule driving a taxi affords them. But Raja continues to do the work, despite the hazards and inconveniences. He enjoys interacting with his passengers when they are positive, and always initiates conversations with them.
TAPE:
Raja: Where are you headed to?
Passenger: 84th and Columbus, please.
Raja: Sure. So how was your day today?
Passenger: Uh... not bad.
Raja: Nice weather though...
Passenger: Silence....
NARR:
Raja would like to go back to school to earn a degree at an American university, so that he might be able to work again as an accountant. But there is no money to set aside for him to go back to school, which he knows is necessary if he wants to get a job in his field.
TAPE: Raja
Part of the whole immigration thing is, you want workers to take jobs which are unwanted for the society. I have seen doctors from India and Pakistan driving cabs in this city. I know lawyers from India and Pakistan driving cabs in this city. It is not that they are dumb. It's that that is what they are offered.
NARR:
New Yorkers may grumble about the taxi fare hike, but for drivers like Rizwan Raja, it will be a welcome change. And with the city adding 900 more medallions to New York's taxi driving workforce, even more changes are on the horizon for this invisible mass. For Columbia Radio News, I'm Devi Zinzuvadia