De Blasio budgets for accessible taxis
By Dana Rubinstein and Sally Goldenberg
Mayor Bill de Blasio is confident he will get the necessary state approval for a taxi medallion sale that would net the city an additional $1.65 billion over the next four years.
The Taxi & Limousine Commission is preparing paperwork to submit to the governor by June explaining how it would make the city's taxi fleet meaningfully wheelchair-accessible, so it can auction off more medallions and reap the expected windfall.
The green outer-borough cabs, which was enacted under former mayor Michael Bloomberg over the objections of candidate de Blasio, also authorized the city to sell 2,000 yellow-cab medallions. But that authorization came with a catch. In order for the city to sell more than 400 of those 2,000 medallions, it would first have to ensure the city's fleet taxi fleet would be accessible to wheelchairs.
The initial 400 medallions have already been sold. The city has yet to turn over its accessibility plan, but Allan Fromberg, a T.L.C. spokesman, said it "will be submitted in June."
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/05/8545164/de-blasio-budgets-accessible-taxis?top-featured-1
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