By:Scott Brinton
A Merrick taxi driver, Christopher Willard, of West Hempstead, was arrested and charged with raping a young woman while on the job in Bellmore, the Herald reported last week. An investigation by the paper revealed that Willard had been arrested for drug possession and was on probation for driving under the influence of drugs. And he didn-t hold a valid Town of Hempstead taxi license at the time of the alleged rape.
For more than three years, Barsel and her husband, Richard, have called on state and local elected officials to toughen taxi licensing requirements. And the Barsels, of Hewlett Neck, formed Parents Against Irresponsible Drivers to lobby for stricter taxi safety requirements.
Their son, Adam, was killed on Oct. 28, 2000, when the taxi he was in turned over on a Cross Island Parkway off-ramp in Bayside, Queens. Adam, 15, sat in the front seat. He wasn-t wearing a seatbelt.
The Barsels charged that the driver, Robert Gillen, drove too fast to handle the off-ramp, and Administrative Law Judge M.C. Cunningham supported their claim. During a June 2001 Department of Motor Vehicles hearing, Cunningham found that Gillen was operating a motor vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions ...
Adam and four friends had taken the taxi, a five-passenger van, from the Five Towns to a camp reunion party in Great Neck. Rhonda Barsel, a Lawrence Middle School health and phys. ed. teacher, wanted to drive Adam and his friends, but she was away visiting a college with one of her daughters. I thought he was safe in the taxi, she said.
Gillen, of Valley Stream, who was driving for Five T Taxi in Hewlett, did not face criminal charges in Adam-s death. His driver-s license was revoked.
A published report stated that Gillen had two license suspensions in 2000 and three traffic offenses that were listed as seatbelt violations. And he was in an accident two weeks before the crash that killed Adam.
In an interview last week, Rhonda Barsel chastised the Town of Hempstead. She believes loose town taxi licensing requirements and rules enforcement can lead to tragedies such as her son-s death or the recent alleged rape in Bellmore.
The Town of Hempstead is terribly irresponsible to the people of their communities, said Barsel.
This week the Herald investigated how the Town of Hempstead licenses cabbies, and compared its practices with those of New York City and the Town of North Hempstead. What the Herald uncovered was a lack of statewide uniformity in licensing requirements. Among the three municipalities that the paper examined, New York City was the strictest, followed by North Hempstead and Hempstead.
Taxi licensing 101
To become a taxi driver, a driver must obtain a Class E chauffeur-s license from the state Department of Motor Vehicles. It isn-t hard to do. Anyone who holds a valid Class D license to drive a car can receive a chauffeur-s license by filing a form and paying a nominal fee.
After that, you file for a local taxi driver-s license from the municipality where you line up a job. Each local government sets its own licensing rules and fees.
The taxi driver-s license is often confused with the medallion. A medallion is the shield granted by a local government to a taxi company allowing it to operate a particular vehicle as a commercial taxicab. Taxi drivers who own their own cabs must get both the taxi driver-s license and a medallion.
Interestingly, most other workers requiring public trust, from contractors to day-care workers, receive their licenses from the New York state Department of State.
In New York City, the Taxi and Limousine Commission makes the rules, and they-re stringent. According to the TLC-s Web site, to get a city taxi license, you must:
n Take an 80-hour or 24-hour class at one of three TLC-approved taxi driving schools, all in Long Island City. The 80-hour course costs $325, and the 24-hour class runs $105. The TLC recommends the 80-hour course because you stand a better chance of passing the written exam at the end of the class. Yes, the written test.
n Submit to a drug test, for $24, and a criminal background check, for $75.
n Take a six-hour defensive-driving class for $50.
n Get a physical exam at your expense showing you-re fit to drive a taxi.
n Prove you-re up to date on any child support you-re required to pay, and that you don-t owe money to the TLC, the DMV or New York City.
n Be at least 19 years old.
New York City taxi licenses, for which the TLC charges $120, are good for two years. In all, the licensing fees and charges can run upward of $600 or more. Processing an application can take over a month after all TLC requirements are met.
By contrast, in the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead, an applicant can walk into the clerk-s office and almost immediately receive a temporary taxi driver-s license, before any real requirements are met.
New York City once offered temporary licenses, but the TLC abolished them in 1996. Allan Fromberg, a city TLC spokesman, said that offering temporary licenses before criminal background checks and drug tests were complete simply didn-t make sense to us.
In Hempstead, a temporary license allows cabbies to drive for 30 days while their criminal background checks are performed at the state Division of Criminal Justice in Albany and their applications are processed.
According to Town of Hempstead code, you can obtain a temporary license by furnishing the following in an application to the clerk:
n Letters from two Nassau County residents, who aren-t related to you and have known you for at least a year, vouching for your sobriety, honesty and good character.
n The names and addresses of your employers over the past 10 years.
n All misdemeanors and felonies for which you were convicted. Applicants are not, however, asked to list arrests or current charges against them.
n The number on your Class E license.
n Any other information the clerk may deem relevant.
Town of Hempstead licenses cost $15 and are good for a year.
The Herald asked to but did not speak with Town of Hempstead Clerk Mark Bonilla for this article. The paper was consistently referred to town spokeswoman Susie Trenkle regarding questions about taxi licensing.
In the Town of North Hempstead, you must obtain a letter of good conduct from the Nassau County Police Department to get a conditional, or temporary, taxi license. The letter must state that you have no criminal convictions or license suspensions in the county, said Michelle Schimel, the North Hempstead town clerk.
Schimel explained that every municipality-s taxi licensing requirements differ. Generally among the towns, the clerk has nearly complete discretion over whether to grant a license. It-s up to me to determine if [an applicant] is fit and proper to drive a taxi in the Town of North Hempstead, Schimel said. In granting a license, she considers a person-s age, character and police records.
At times, the town attorney is called upon to help the clerk decide whether to offer a license. In North Hempstead, Schimel said, We do make denials. We-re rather strict in this office in terms of who drives. And she noted that anyone who is denied a license can go before the town board to contest the decision.
Before the Town of North Hempstead hands out a license, the applicant must already have a job lined up with a taxi company. Hopefully, Schimel said, the company has done an extensive interview to look into the person.
A call to nix temporary licenses
Barsel believes cabbies should be routinely spot-checked for drugs, which the Town of Hempstead does not currently do. And she says temporary taxi licenses should be done away with.
Conditional licenses, she believes, allow people with criminal backgrounds to slip through the system and work as cabbies for at least 30 days to earn fast cash, before their records are checked and they-re discovered.
And even when their backgrounds are uncovered as with Willard, the alleged cabbie rapist they may continue to drive. The Town of Hempstead had called Willard in to discuss his past offenses, but he never returned the town-s calls. And he kept driving for Long Island Checkered Cab in Merrick for four months, without a taxi license, before he was arrested for allegedly raping a woman while on duty.
The town contends that the taxi company must ensure that its drivers are properly licensed. Long Island Checkered didn-t return several phone calls.
Barsel said, You can-t just walk in and get a 30-day license and drive a bus. Why should a person driving a cab be able to do that? What does that reflect? The cab company doesn-t care, and the Town of Hempstead doesn-t care.
The cab companies, New York City TLC spokesman Fromberg said, argue that they need the temporary licenses to help staff their fleets. Turnover among cab drivers is high, particularly in the suburbs. If drivers must wait to complete a long application process before starting to drive, the cab companies might wind up short-staffed.
At some companies particularly those owned by large corporations that offer low pay and few, if any, benefits, drivers change monthly, sources said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, taxi drivers earn an average of $5.86 to $13.47 per hour, including tips, with little to no hope of advancement. The hours can be trying. Drivers may be called to work any time of day or night. Twelve-hour shifts are common.
Drivers who own their own cabs make $25,000 to $50,000 a year, according to the Labor Department.
Hope for the future
Barsel wants Nassau County to establish a taxi and limousine commission, which she believes would better regulate the county-s numerous cab companies. It appears she will get her wish.
Last May, New York state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) sent a home rule message to the state Legislature, calling for legislation that would give the county the ability to register taxi and limousine companies. Until then, oversight of Nassau-s taxi and limousine industry had rested with its cities, towns and villages.
In August, Gov. George Pataki signed Fuschillo-s home rule bill into law, allowing Nassau to have its own TLC. In December, the Nassau County Legislature passed a measure calling for creation of a taxi and limousine commission, and County Executive Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) signed off on it.
The local law also established a system to register cabbies with the TLC. Under the new county ordinance, all taxi drivers will have to wear photo ID-s with their names and county registration numbers. Previously, the Town of North Hempstead had required cabbies to wear photo ID badges, but the Town of Hempstead did not. Trenkle said Hempstead cabbies must carry photo IDs, but they don-t have to display them for passengers.
Badges, county officials say, will help safeguard taxi riders, because they-ll know who their drivers are. They-ll also know they shouldn-t get into a cab if the driver isn-t wearing a badge, because the cabbie would likely be unlicensed and unregistered.
The county plans to perform criminal background checks before issuing licenses, and it will not offer temporary licenses, said county Legislator David Denenberg (D-Merrick).
Roger Bogstead, Nassau County-s consumer affairs commissioner, worked closely with Fuschillo to draft the home rule message to the state Legislature. He said allowing the county to register taxi drivers will enhance the safety of the riding public by ensuring that only legitimate, licensed companies transport consumers to their desired destinations.
Fuschillo, who noted that local municipalities would still license cabbies, said, It-s vital that riders know which carrier is safe and which carrier isn-t.
Despite legislation calling for the TLC, Nassau County has yet to establish one. Carole Trottere, a county spokeswoman, said Suozzi plans to finish making appointments to the commission by next month, and it should be up and running shortly thereafter.
Hector Flores contributed to this story.
