Recently I heard from a Taxi driver who used to drive in the 1970's named Jimmy. I am going to post some of his information about the differences between then and now.
My name really is Jimmy.. The sit-down rate was 65 cents, and 10 cents each 1/6th mile. We started with Dodge Coronets, really horrible Flintstones-like vehicles--my feet could almost touch ground. Then in 1976 we got Dodge Aspens, a great improvement--and a dime fare raise.
Then read it over, learn a little about astrology, and then put it on the dash-top of your cab where lonely single women fares are sure to see it. In MY day they had no cellphone distractions and all that bullsh*t-it was just me and them. But astrology ALWAYS intrigues women, and with a little knowledge you might go far---actually I really did know my shit about it all..It got me laid from the cab at least 30 times just due to astrology..
Hey--you can contact me any time about taxis stuff--I have a sh*tload of stuff I could tell you. I was there back in the disco era, when it was all crazy and free-flowing. And for 65 cents initial sit-down, 10 cents each 6th of a mile..We had a purple-people eater, that is to say a little device that shortened the mile by about 3 blocks. I did have one for a while, but I always tried to do my best as a cabbie.
The hack inspectors caught me giving a free ride on the arm with my mother..I faced a lengthy fine and suspension, but I got a Brooklyn doctor I knew to write up a phony doctor emergency visit.. At the TLC office at Beaver Street they found me not guilty, and they had to spend 5 minutes to actually find the NOT GUILTY stamp. I was a fleet driver then and my bosses were amazed.
When I was a fleet driver I had many OTs, to Nyack, Yonkers, Greenwich , Jersey City..I always charged double the meter but on my trip sheet I always managed to arrange things..If it was to Westchester or Connecticut, it became a long trip to the Bronx outermost limits. Once I horse-hired it was not necessary of course..My longest fare was to Philadelphia, and the longest one I turned down was from JFK to Montreal for a Canadian who missed the last flight but had to be in Montreal in 7 hours for a million-dollar deal. I would have done it but had already put in a 15 hr day behind the wheel.
Hey--get back to me--I always can talk TAXI. JIM
My name really is Jimmy.. The sit-down rate was 65 cents, and 10 cents each 1/6th mile. We started with Dodge Coronets, really horrible Flintstones-like vehicles--my feet could almost touch ground. Then in 1976 we got Dodge Aspens, a great improvement--and a dime fare raise.
We had partitions at the fleet, but of course no cell-phones, no Internet, and no rooftop advertisements. Back in those days the inbound Qnsboro Bridge had a separate lane on the outside and there was one-lane with a clearance of about 5 inches on each side. And zooming back to LIC at the end of the night I realize now how easily that had I- (often high on good weed) messed up just slightly--I'd have been on the front page.
In mid-78 I 'horse-hired', left the fleet and rented a cab by the week--$250..This gave me the cab for 12 hrs a day 7 days a week. And so this leads me to your blog about your sexual taxi adventures of recent note. When I drove the cab, there was no AIDS.. It was the disco era.
You speak all about meeting Women in the cab..You are doing it from a Y2K perspective. I did it in the Disco Era..An age of drop-your drawers, lets-have-sex, we will all have fun. No such thing as AIDS/HIV.
I can honestly tell you that I wound up getting horizontal with about 55 women that I met directly via the cab. About 50 that were fares, and another 5 or 6 were female cabbies. And there was ALWAYS plenty to chat about in bed?
I was --and remain--a charming person, and back in the 1970s I was a very serious student of astrology. And when a young woman fare would get in my cab, the conversation often times turned to the zodiac stuff. Whether they were local or out of town, that always got them .. So I would say--hey, climb in the front seat and let me show you
a NYC you've never seen before..Even the locals didn't know about the mini Statue of Liberty visible on W.68th. The gals would always worry about the meter, and I would say--fuggit. In the fleet I ate it or risked a TLC ticket, but when I horsed I had no problems there.
Of the appx 50 women I boinked that I met in the cab, maybe 15 were that-same-night. All the rest on a later date..And amazingly to my credit, it has been 30 years now--and I live on the West Coast now--but I Still keep in touch with 5 women fares/lovers from back then, to this day--and they with me too.
Listen, if you have read this, get back to me--I'd be happy to discuss taxis in NYC from MY day.. No cell phones, skimpy partitions, all sorts of things. Just reply if interested.
John Doe--Hi
Read up and learn a little about astrology.. I suggest THE COMPLETE ASTROLOGER book from the 1970s. [spelling is correct on COMPLEAT].. See if you can get a copy of it--maybe THE STRAND has a copy.
Read up and learn a little about astrology.. I suggest THE COMPLETE ASTROLOGER book from the 1970s. [spelling is correct on COMPLEAT].. See if you can get a copy of it--maybe THE STRAND has a copy.
Then read it over, learn a little about astrology, and then put it on the dash-top of your cab where lonely single women fares are sure to see it. In MY day they had no cellphone distractions and all that bullsh*t-it was just me and them. But astrology ALWAYS intrigues women, and with a little knowledge you might go far---actually I really did know my shit about it all..It got me laid from the cab at least 30 times just due to astrology..
Hey--you can contact me any time about taxis stuff--I have a sh*tload of stuff I could tell you. I was there back in the disco era, when it was all crazy and free-flowing. And for 65 cents initial sit-down, 10 cents each 6th of a mile..We had a purple-people eater, that is to say a little device that shortened the mile by about 3 blocks. I did have one for a while, but I always tried to do my best as a cabbie.
The hack inspectors caught me giving a free ride on the arm with my mother..I faced a lengthy fine and suspension, but I got a Brooklyn doctor I knew to write up a phony doctor emergency visit.. At the TLC office at Beaver Street they found me not guilty, and they had to spend 5 minutes to actually find the NOT GUILTY stamp. I was a fleet driver then and my bosses were amazed.
When I was a fleet driver I had many OTs, to Nyack, Yonkers, Greenwich , Jersey City..I always charged double the meter but on my trip sheet I always managed to arrange things..If it was to Westchester or Connecticut, it became a long trip to the Bronx outermost limits. Once I horse-hired it was not necessary of course..My longest fare was to Philadelphia, and the longest one I turned down was from JFK to Montreal for a Canadian who missed the last flight but had to be in Montreal in 7 hours for a million-dollar deal. I would have done it but had already put in a 15 hr day behind the wheel.
Hey--get back to me--I always can talk TAXI. JIM
Hi again John D
Sorry I ended things so abruptly once again--beer will do that, and I press the wrong key and zap--gone like a yellow cabbie in the South Bronx at 3AM..To wit, back then when the place looked like Dresden during WW2 I would of course have my doors locked in the South Bronx and would slow down at a red light and then run it, and the NYPD never pulled me over for it.
The first night I ever drove a yellow taxi was March 10th 1975..I had to find a place to eat and chat with cabbies..That was the Belmore Cafeteria on Park Avenue, as seen in the movie TAXI DRIVER, which was soon to be filmed in various locations I saw the cameras...But one night in the Belmoreand I knew I had to find a better place--better neighborhood. And that was the Mansion Diner, NW corner of 86th & York. Much better..The waitress there-Michelle--knew us and always knew what we wanted. She actually wound up shacking up with a cabbie friend of mine and they moved in to the apartment above the diner...When she got fired for michegas, we loyal friends of her moved to the Market Diner on W.43rd.
I really never had problems with the NYPD--but the Port Auth cops reallyhad a hard-on for cabbies at JFK and LaG...Tickets back then were $50 or so--not much now, but it was a lot back then.
There was a device called a 'purple-people-eater'.. I don't know if there are still meter-repair shops but there were then. As you know, 20 blocks up Madison or down Lex is a mile. Back in the day, one could go to a meter shop and have this little purple cog device installed-----what it did was reduce a mile on the meter to about 17 to 17.5 blocks..A slight subtle diff,but one that could add about $15 to a nights' bookings. I myself did not getit installed but was in a cab that had it, and after 2 nights I was disgusted about stealing and traded for a different cab. [This when I was horse-hiring, not the fleet of course]..
As a cabbie I NEVER scammed my fares. Only 2 times did I ever use the Belt to/from JFK--both on a rainy Friday rush-hour--when that really was the fastest way to go, and I said so to the fare that it would cost more but be faster than sitting in traffic on the VanWyck.
One perk of being a cabbie was that if I found myself in The Bronx at night there were taxi parking stands outside Yankee Stadium, and I could park the cab on Jerome Ave and admission was free to the bleachers in the middle of the 7th inning. As well, back in the day cabbies with a hack license were free to visit (with a free guest) the top of the WTC observation deck.
NYC cabbies of now amaze me, with celphones, tv cams, and blogs. Thisof course was totally unknown in my time..I know I sound like a dinosaur, but I am a 57 year old long haired hippie to this day---and incredibly I STILL dream about driving the cab about 3 dreams a week. It's who I was and always will be, no matter what.
No problems with you posting my musings, I just have the distinct feeling that the young drivers of today have no interest in it..Quite understandable,life has changed a shitload since then. But those were fabulous fun days when driving a cab in NYC was an experience that I know all my taxi friends from them still recall fondly.
Hey--get back to me---your taxi friend--Jim
