The city does not allow cabs licensed outside of White Plains to pick up and discharge passengers there, although a taxi from adjacent Greenburgh may pick up a passenger in White Plains as long as it drops off in Greenburgh, according to Daniel Jackson, a White Plains police inspector who oversees taxi licensing.
He then answers a call to pick up a passenger in East Harlem.
He steered his yellow cab around the corner and pulled over to pick up a passenger, his fourth ever.
Whether they are legal to drive everywhere or to drive without an occupant – to pick up a passenger or park themselves – remains to be seen.
David Clarke was driving along 147th Avenue in Rosedale, Queens, on a recent Monday when, he said, an unlicensed van cut him off as he was about to pick up a passenger.
"The ground's so uneven that if a taxi stops short to pick up a passenger, the cars behind it don't have all four wheels on the ground, and they're hitting the taxi".
The taxi drivers are asked to text-message back to the dispatcher if they are available to pick up a passenger who has called the city's 311 line to request a special cab, Mr. Weprin said.
Anthony Cappaze, the head of Lighthouse Fast Ferries Inc., the parent company of New York Fast Ferry, which owns the boat, said the captain was trying to dock the boat quickly to meet an ambulance that he had summoned to pick up a passenger.
The first victim was a driver for the Emerald Car Service, who was sent to pick up a passenger at 2217 Voorhees Avenue in Coney Island, shortly after midnight, the police said.
Instead, they pair up with like-minded drivers online, by posting their starting point, destination, how far they are willing to drive to pick up a passenger, and what they are willing to contribute to the cost for the journey, part of which goes to matchmaking website's operator.
