Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Monday 2 deceMber 2019
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In ride-hail boom, livery cabs feel squeezed and forgotten

By CLAUDIA TORRENS tant," said Silvia Mat, a
Associated Press 71-year-old Dominican im-
NEW YORK (AP) — As a liv- migrant and Bronx resident
ery cab driver in the Bronx while walking her dog re-
for more than a decade, cently. "It would be a sad
Orlando Lantigua knows thing to see them go and
some of his customers well. a sad thing to see drivers
If they don't have money to without jobs."
pay today, they can pay Allan Fromberg, the Taxi
him later. He often gets dis- and Limousine Commis-
patched by his base sta- sion's deputy commissioner
tion to pick up children and for public affairs, said dis-
take them to school, with- cussion of a new livery li-
out their parents in the car. cense class "has only just
"That's how much parents begun".
trust the base. We are part William Heinzen, TLC's act-
of the community," says ing commissioner, ac-
Lantigua, a 58-year-old knowledged recently dur-
Dominican immigrant who ing a hearing in City Hall
lives in the Bronx. that livery cabs are in a
In the outer boroughs and tight spot but explained
low-income New York that they are exempt from
neighborhoods — where some of the new regula-
yellow cabs rarely go and Aderlin Abreu, a dispatcher at Super Class Radio Dispatch, takes calls in the Bronx borough of tions that affect ride-hail-
public transportation is New York, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019. ing apps, like a cap on
sometimes sparse — resi- Associated Press how long they can cruise
dents who lack smart which are also often used But that measure, aimed at cording to Fidel Farrell, one without a fare in Manhat-
phones or credit cards for airport trips, cannot giants like Uber, has inad- of the base's owners. Now it tan's congested areas and
have relied on livery cabs be hailed in the street but vertently pummeled livery has about 175. requirements for collecting
for generations. are authorized to pick up cab companies, which are "Our communities are suf- data on their rides. Heinzen
But the businesses, many paying passengers when now asking to be exempt fering, we are losing our said he supports the con-
times owned by Latino im- booked by phone. from the cap and be giv- livelihoods because of cept of a Livery Task Force,
migrants, are dwindling "We are in a serious crisis," en their own specialized blanket approach poli- which would analyze the
rapidly: There were nearly says Cira Angeles, spokes- license, claiming that the cies," said Angeles. Some issue, and said the TLC has
22,000 livery cabs in New woman for the Livery Base city needs to look at them residents in places like reduced many penalties
York in 2015, and there are Owners Association. individually instead of com- Washington Heights, a for drivers.
approximately 9,600 now, Lantigua says he earns ing up with a one-size-fits-all heavily Latino neighbor- Ydanis Rodríguez, chair-
according to the city's Taxi less each year and spends solution that is putting them hood in upper Manhattan, man of the City Council's
and Limousine Commission. more on complying with on the path to extinction. prefer to be transported by Transportation Committee
More than 100 livery cab fees and rules. Because of the cap, they "the guy in the corner they and a former livery cab
bases have closed their In 2018, the City Council say, they can't replace have known for years," she driver, is asking the city,
doors since 2015, when agreed to cap the number drivers who retire or who said. among other things, to
ride-hailing apps like Uber of vehicle licenses for ride- can't renew their licenses Customers of livery cabs eliminate driver's debt as-
and Lyft began to provide hailing services to reduce due to pending tickets. Su- are also used to calling a sociated with penalties.
a large number of trips, cut- traffic congestion and in- per Class Radio Dispatch, number and speaking with "We have to treat this in-
ting into their business. This crease drivers' salary in which Lantigua drives for, a dispatcher — often a dustry with respect and
year alone, 46 have shut the wake of the explosive had more than 250 drivers multilingual one. dignity because it is key
down. By law, livery cabs, growth of for-hire vehicles. about five years ago, ac- "For me, they are impor- for the immigrants who live
here," he said. q
Merry Clickmas: Black Friday online sales hit record $7.4B

NEW YORK (AP) — This year's traffic. Shoppers have
Black Friday was the big- been looking for "Frozen 2"
gest ever for online sales, as toys in particular. Other top
fewer people hit the stores purchases included sports
and shoppers rang up $7.4 video games and Apple
billion in transactions from laptops. All the online shop-
their phones, computers ping may have helped thin
and tablets. the crowd at malls on Black
That's just behind the $7.9 Friday.
billion haul of last year's Cy- Traffic at stores fell 2.1% on
ber Monday, which holds Black Friday from a year
the one-day record for ago, according to pre-
online sales, according to liminary figures from Retail-
Adobe Analytics. Adobe Next. It tracks in-store ac-
measures sales at 80 of the tivity at tens of thousands
top 100 U.S. online retailers. People carry shopping bags while crossing a street in San Fran- of locations, including spe-
Adobe expects online sales cisco, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. cialty apparel retailers, big-
to jump to another record Associated Press box stores and mall-based
this Cyber Monday with an stores. The drop in traffic
estimated total of $9.4 bil- is happening on people's for 39% of all online sales helped lead to a 1.6% dip
lion. Much of the shopping phones, which accounted Friday and 61% of online in sales.q