Taxi driver beats up Sunnyside-bound passenger
A taxi driver was stripped of his license Tuesday for yanking a passenger out of his back seat and tossing him into the road, in a brawl caught on videotape.
The dramatic security footage shows a car stopping to avoid hitting crazed cabbie Sidikiba Diallo and fare Glenn Yonemitsu as they tussled in the middle of E. 32nd St.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission hauled Diallo before an administrative judge, who found he broke the rules by assaulting his passenger.
The TLC is sending a letter to Diallo — a Bronx resident who has been a hack for 20 years — informing him that his license is revoked.
What sparked the argument that led to the knock-down, drag-out the night of April 16 is in dispute.
Yonemitsu claimed the driver refused to take him to Sunnyside, Queens, after picking him up at a Japanese restaurant in Midtown — then attacked him when he wouldn’t get out of the cab.
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Reminds me of the bad attitude I get from cabbies at LaGuardia airport when I tell them I’m only going to Woodside or Astoria. They sure look like they want to hit me.
Makes sense. Cabbies don’t want to come to queens. I’ve tried to get in a taxi cab after telling them i was going to queens and nearly got my arm ripped off when he sped away.
The TLC says that’s illegal, but who’s going to stop them?
It’s funny, they don’t want to go to Queens because it is hard to get fares here, they say. But, we are always complaining you can’t get a cab. Can both be true?
Laure, what makes sense? He is a cab, he is ordered to take the person wherever the person asks him to. He has no right to refuse, unless he wants to drive a bus or something else. The moment he picks up a passenger he is obligated to take him wherever, even if it means taking him to long island or queens or middle of nowhere.
As for stripping his license, he should be arrested or even sent back to wherever he came from.
Just tell him you recorded the whole thing and if he does not take you to where you asked him to you will report him.
Just get in the cab and tell these sleeper cell terrorists where to go. If they refuse to take you, call the Po Po don’t just sit there like a kid pouting and refusing to move.
After first coming to Sunnyside in ’99, I often encountered the same attitude about not wanting to go into Queens. A few guys pulled over, asking me to get out, but I would refuse. Each of these clowns ended up driving me back to Sunnyside.
What I have done for years now is get into the cab and say “41st Street… (LOOOOONG PAUSE, they turn on the meter, all excited about going to mid town)…..and Queens Blvd.”
If they don’t want to drive into Queens/Brooklyn/Bronx, they need to try a new line of work. I hope the passenger sues him for every cent he has.
RD
Absolute nonsense.
If you are coming to queens from Manhattan, drivers be reimbursed for at least 50% of the return fare.
Imagine if other people providing a service took the same attitude.
Go into a supermarket and only buy items that are on sale and the cashier refuses to ring up your purchases.
Buy a discounted airline ticket and they toss you off the plane.
Have a drink during happy hour at a bar and the bartender tells you to get lost.
The list goes on.
I always, always stick my head into the cab before getting in and ask, “will you go to Queens?” Most accept the fare straight away, some don’t. It’s just plain safer to know the person driving you wants to take you there. And then I tip them generously, as they will most likely not get a fare back.
As for the odyssey that awaits us from JFK going home, that’s another story. After a long flight, sleep deprived and jet lagged, the drivers are invariably moaning and complaining, wanting to take every highway possible so as to extend the fare – and that’s with a special ticket that allows him to go back. It’s horrid.
@tempus
not the same:
The cashier rings you up because supermarkets do make money from sales as loss leaders. They value you as a customer and hope your cheap self will buy a non sale item one day.
Airlines give discount tickets to encourage cheapos to fly on low volume days. They make money either way.
A cabbie gets to drive back to Manhattan with an empty cab. Can you imagine why they’d want to kick your @$$ if you want them to return to queens again?
@deniz
thank you.
Once in a bloody night….Very pragmatic and rational thoughts comes from a sunnysider.
Thanks O’shea, chalk it up to experience
**Best advice => Give your business to a Sunnyside Car Service…who would appreciate you and your business!
If you have to travel from any of the airports or from Manhattan…CALL a Sunnyside based CAR SERVICE.
Check with available car services in advance, program their phone number into your smart phone, and be picked up curb side….while others are waiting in the cab line. Car services are usually less expensive than a cab.
O’shea
You’re an @sshole
As a cab driver, part of your JOB description is to service ALL the boroughs. These folks know this going in. If it’s something they object to, the solution is simple, find a different line of work.
If the driver doesn’t want to obey the rules he can turn in his license and medallion. The rules say the driver takes fares in New York City to anywhere in NYC. There’s no such thing as a “Manhattan only” taxi service. The four outer boroughs are just as much citizens of this city as people in Manhattan.
I get the “I no go to Queens” all the time. When that happens I take the drivers name and number and report him to the TLC. You know, for breaking the rules. I and my friends also leave all the doors open, so he has to get out of the cab and close them himself.
If I’m walking west on Queens Blvd. taxi cabs will all but run you down if they think you might be heading into Manhattan. But God help you if you are going anywhere else.
A couple of years ago at Met, I was told I had to buy a bunch of bananas, vs. one or two, in order to get a sale price. I said that was fine, I just wanted a couple of bananas so I would pay the regular price. I was told that no, I had to buy the whole bunch. So I didn’t get any bananas that day.
why are some of you feeling bad for these cab drivers? they’re roaches with wheels. You really care if the guy makes money to drive BACK to Manhattan? idiots..its his own dumb choice to drive back to Manhattan because they have it in their minds that the only way to make money is taking you drunk hipsters a few blocks.
This is why I laugh whenever I see some drunk girl throwing up in a cab.
Like I said, open the door, get in the cab…close the door. THEN tell him where you are going. they refuse? don’t get out…take out your phone and call the police. It’s their JOB to drive people around.. this is AMERICA , the time of selecting who we want to do things for is over. You don’t want to work for the public then go back to your goat loving country and throw rocks at our soldiers.
Ruben you’re a racist little yuppie !!! Everyone Rubens a yuppieee I figured it out!! He hates Muslims and Arabs!!! And he’s a yuppie I saw him licking some dog crap off the ground at Lou loudati with oppressed masses they were having a blast
Seriously, there is an issue of safety involved here. I know my rights, but there is also reality. As a woman, why ride through the more desolate parts of Queens with someone who doesn’t want to go there? Others can demand their rights, but I am not interested in pushing my luck. It takes two extra minutes to first ask if they’ll go to Queens. Yes, I shouldn’t have to do it, but if I don’t I might very well be putting my life in danger. Think about it, the guy is already breaking the law by saying no -
Honey stop playing on the internets and come upstairs. I made you some peanut butter and jam sandwiches.
@O’shea’s mother
I made a comment and let it be. Why are you still carrying it ?
Buy some class. It should be available on one of those southside street fairs.
Take a look at your life and the people you keep as company. Chances are that- you and them have not changed or accomplished much.
This is what the real O’shea’s mother would have said to you.#selfevaluation.
This simple fact is there are Passenger Rights to avoid these situations. These Rights state that all taxi drivers cannot refuse any fares within the 5 boroughs. It is not their choice. They are not doing us a favor by taking us out of Manhattan. It is the law. I was born and raised in this borough and I’ll be damned if I am going to be apologetic or sympathetic to any cabbie whose refusing to do his job which is to take me to my destination.
The cab drivers are obligated to take you to Queens or wherever else you want to go. If anyone is denied a ride by a cabbie due to their choice of destination, I encourage you to report them at http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311/allServices.htm?requestType=topService&serviceName=Yellow+Taxi+Complaint
I hailed a taxi once who refused to take me to the address I gave him in Brooklyn. I told him I knew my rights and that he was obligated to take me there (he was on duty). He yelled at me, called me a b**** and similar to the cabbie in the story above, opened the back door and grabbed at me to throw me out. I was lucky that I was able to pull away from his grasp and escape through the other back door. Otherwise, I was likely to end up in the middle of a busy street, just like the victim in the article. Have you seen the security footage of this thing? The cabbie literally flung the guy into the middle of a busy Manhattan street where he could have easily been run over by a passing car. This cabbie should have been charged with criminal assault, because if you watch the video, there will be no doubt in your mind that it was exactly that.
…..once i got into a cab in manhattan and the driver refused to take me home to sunnyside……i refused to get out and reminded him it was against the law to refuse me ……he hit the gas and drove on angry…..then proceeded to curse me out practically the whole way home…. the next time it happened i reminded that driver about the law…but he just got angry and absolutely refused to take me…..so when i got out i left the door open forcing him to get out and come around to close it….(did i mention it was raining)……since then i ask the drivers first if they’ll take me and they usually say yes….and i usually have a lovely time talking to them about where they’re from or current events etc….making it a much more pleasant ride, than starting it off in disagreement.
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