Page 10 - Aruba Bank 24 JULY 2015

U.S. NEWS A5
NYC strikes deal with Uber: No
cap on company during study
JONATHAN LEMIRE
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — New
York City and Uber struck
an eleventh-hour deal that
backs off, for now, placing
a cap on the number of
cars the ride-hailing com-
pany can have on the
streets of the nation’s larg-
est city.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ad-
ministration announced
late Wednesday — on the
eve of a City Council vote
that could have estab-
lished the restriction — that
Uber agreed to a four-
month study on the impact
of the cars on the city’s traf- and the mayor’s office the
fic and the environment.
Under the deal, the city will
not cap Uber’s growth dur-
ing those four months.
The agreement contrasts
sharply with the legislation
the council was set to vote
on Thursday, which called
for a 1 percent cap on the
San Francisco-based com-
pany’s growth within New
York City during a yearlong
study. Uber has steadfastly
opposed any cap, and
the company and City Hall
had traded increasingly
nasty barbs over the past
week.
But the hostilities were set
aside to announce the sur-
prise arrangement, which
also included a commit-
ment to turn over far more
data to the city on the lo-
cation and duration of its
rides. The company also
agreed to discuss working
toward making more of its
vehicles handicap-acces-
sible and contributing to
the region’s mass transit
network.
“The city received a will-
ingness on the company’s
part to make sure there
was no effort to flood the
market with dramatically
increased rates of growth,”
said First Deputy Mayor
Tony Shorris, in charge at
City Hall as de Blasio returns AIKEN, South Carolina (AP)
from a conference at the
Vatican. “The company
eventually agreed to what
we’ve been asking for a
while.”
City officials said the deal,
which will keep Uber at
its current rate of growth,
was reminiscent of what
the de Blasio administra-
tion offered Uber early in
the negotiating process.
It was brokered after Uber
officials reached out to
Shorris on Tuesday night,
setting up a meeting with
officials from the council
next day.
Though City Council staff-
ers said the cap legislation
would have passed, the de
Blasio administration’s po-
sition appeared to weak-
en as Uber unleashed its
ad campaign. Officials in
the mayor’s office said a
cap could still be imposed
if Uber reneges on the
agreement,
though it was unclear if the
necessary council votes
would still be there in four
months.
“We are pleased new driv-
ers will continue to be free
to join the for-hire industry
and partner with Uber,”
Josh Mohrer, Uber NYC’s
general manager, said in a
statement. “Together, we
can build an even better,
more reliable transporta-
tion system.”
The $40 billion company
has become a dominant
force on the streets of New
York, dispatching 25,000
cars — up from under 100
just four years ago — com-
pared to 13,000 of the city’s
iconic yellow taxis.
In pushing for a cap, the de
Blasio administration cited
concern over increased
congestion on Manhat-
tan’s clogged streets. q
GOP scrambling to adjust to ‘Trumpism’
BILL BARROW
Associated Press
— Donald Trump is on his
way to the Mexican bor-
der, the latest event in a
presidential campaign
some of his Republican ri-
vals would like to dismiss as
a sideshow — a “carnival
act,” as one puts it. But the
billionaire developer and
reality TV host has been
stealing their thunder for
days and left them scram-
bling to adjust to a race
dominated by a bombas-
tic longshot.
Trump will be in Laredo,
Texas, on Thursday, high-
lighting his unyielding
stance on immigration. The
trip will revisit a topic that Trump’s campaign as a
has stirred criticism that has “cancer on conservatism”
now grown into open hos-
tility from some Republican
contenders.
From party heavyweights
like Jeb Bush to recently
announced candidates
like Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker and Ohio Gov.
John Kasich, the contend-
ers are confronted by
Trump’s hair-trigger habit
of calling out his critics by
name, vilifying the Repub-
lican establishment and
roiling the debate over im-
migration and more.
On Thursday, Trump plans
to hold a news confer-
ence at the U.S-Mexico
border, meet members of
the union that represents
Border Control agents and
speak to law enforcement
officers, his campaign
said. The border became
a flashpoint in the Repub-
lican debate when Trump
branded Mexican immi-
grants rapists and drug-
bearing criminals.
After that episode came
a broadside against Sen.
John McCain, who earned
Trump’s ire by saying his
remarks about immigrants
had brought out “crazies.”
Trump mocked McCain’s
Thursday 23 July 2015
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at his
South Carolina campaign kickoff rally in Bluffton, S.C., Tuesday,
July 21, 2015.
(AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
experience in the Vietnam been more measured,
War where he was tortured
as a prisoner, called him though showing signs of
“dumb” and laced into his
record on veterans’ issues growing exasperation.
in the Senate.
In Washington, former Texas Bush, in particular, has con-
Gov. Rick Perry was asked
about Trump’s planned spicuously tried to avoid
trip on to the border. He
snapped, “I hope he can alienating Trump’s sup-
find the border because
I’m not sure he’s ever been porters — “good people”
there before.”
This, after Perry denounced with “legitimate concerns”
— even while branding
and “barking carnival act”
in a speech that laced Trumps’ rhetoric “ugly” and
into “Trumpism: a toxic mix
of demagoguery, mean- “mean-spirited.”
spiritedness and nonsense
that will lead the Repub- The feud is unfolding as the
lican Party to perdition if
pursued.” candidates prepare for the
Indeed, the insults flying
between Trump and his first Republican debate, a
fiercest critics have been
caustic. Sen. Lindsey Gra- venue to which the top 10
ham called him a “jackass”
a day earlier and Trump in national polling will be in-
responded by calling Gra-
ham an “idiot” and giving vited out of a swollen line-
out the senator’s cellphone
number, jamming his voice up of 16. Although they are
mail.
Others in the field have all accomplished, few are
well known nationally, and
“Trumpism” isn’t making it
easier for them to get their
messages out at a time
when mere name recogni-
tion can drive popularity in
polling. Trump, a longtime
celebrity, is almost guaran-
teed a spot in the debate.
Bush, in South Carolina on
Wednesday, said he wasn’t
approaching the debate
thinking about Trump or
any rival who might be on
the stage. “My objective
with this is to, wherever I
can, share my record,” he
said. q