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Tales of a New York Cabbie
Peter Honig moved to New York City in 1979. He saw an ad in the New York Times looking for a taxi driver. With zero experience and little knowledge of local streets, he contacted the Ann Service Corporation, one of the largest taxi companies in the city. The company did a background check and agreed to help Honig obtain a Hack License.
A Hack License allows a driver to operate a Yellow Medallion Taxi in the five boroughs of New York. A Medallion identifies a cab as part of the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC), the governing body of New York taxis. In those days, a Medallion cost $62,000. By 2014, the cost was above $1 million. In 2021, due to competition from Uber and Lyft, the Medallion cost dropped to $80,000.
Honig passed the TLC written test, paid $30 and received a Hack license. He joined the ranks of 30,000 fellow cab drivers in the city. Most were American born men aged 40–50. There were a few Caribbean drivers and a large number of immigrant Russians who were doctors and lawyers in the old country. Honig, who played in a punk band, was among a small percentage of musicians who drove cabs.
Drivers worked a 12-hour shift starting at 6am or 6pm. On Honig’s first day, he arrived in the morning to find a long line outside the Chelsea taxi station. He waited two hours only to learn there were no remaining cabs. The next day, he arrived a…
