Metrosectional

Taxi Drivers Maxed Out About Accusations

The recent accusations that cab drivers are overcharging passengers may be due to the new technology in the cabs, said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Worker’s Alliance.

In 2007, the Taxi and Limousine Commission required all drivers to install meters with the out-of-town rate and the city rate buttons next to each other. New data suggests that drivers accidentally press the out-of-town rate button at the end of a ride.

The TLC has acknowledged the issue and is looking into it, but still says the errors were due to meter manipulation, not the actual meters. 

No official apology has been issued yet.

Williamsburg Bridge Expands for Bikes

The Williamsburg Bridge will soon be upgraded to better accommodate bicyclists.

The bridge, the most traveled by city cyclists, has seen an increase in bike traffic of nearly 3,000 users per day in the past five years.

The bridge will get renovations to its ramps that will separate cyclists from pedestrians, reducing accidents between the two groups. Bike paths will also be installed on Rivington and Stanton Streets to offer alternate routes that avoid accident-plagued Delancey Street.

The proposed paths will break the existing 24-foot-wide combined parking/moving lane into an eight-foot parking lane, a 10-foot moving lane, and a six-foot bike lane.

The Department of Transportation expects to finish the upgrade in early June.

St. Vincent's On Death Bed

On March 24, Mount Sinai Medical Center officials told the *New York Times* they were interested in partnering up with the ailing St. Vincent's Hospital of Greenwich Village, potentially saving the latter from bankruptcy. Yet on April 1 (and this is not an April Fool's joke), Mt. Sinai officials changed their minds.

“We have concluded that we are not going to pursue the acquisition of the inpatient operations of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers," said Mt. Sinai officials in a statement. "But we will continue to consider other health care options for the communities served by St. Vincent’s."

The Race for the Greener Fleet

On March 22, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom raised his fists at Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City in a competition for the greener taxi fleet.

"The good news is we've made progress," Newsom said at a press conference. "The bad news is New York has not."

According to the *San Francisco Chronicle*, San Francisco's taxi fleet is made up of 57 percent hybrid or compressed natural gas vehicles; only 11 percent of New York City's fleet is hybrid.

Bloomberg said he plans to make the NYC fleet 100 percent hybrid by 2012.

Thugs Raise Hell on Easter Night

Gang activity disturbed Easter peace in Times Square where large crowds gathered after the New York City International Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Center on 34th St.

As a result, four people were shot and 33 were arrested--seven of them minors--the *New York Times* reported.

According to the *New York Post*, shop owners in the Times Square area said this was a gang initiation night, and that this activity has been going on for the past five years. However, the New York Police Department downplayed the situation and said that this violence was from the spillover of Auto Show attendees who had flashed gang colors and sparked conflict.