Livery Street Hail Activity in Midtown Manhattan


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Until the 1950s, taxi drivers worked throughout all five boroughs of New York City. Even as recently as the early 1970s some drivers cruised the streets of the "outerboroughs," according to former cab drivers from that era. But by the 1980s, cabs picked up very few passengers outside of Manhattan (aside from the airports). Car services filled the gap left by medallion cabs in the outerboroughs.

This trend has continued in Manhattan as well, with car services providing the great bulk of exclusive-ride service in upper Manhattan, while yellow cabs focused on the customer- rich neighborhoods south of 96th Street. Although some limousine and sedan drivers would solicit for business in Midtown, through most of the 1980s and 1990s yellow cabs were by far the predominant provider of exclusive-ride street hail service in Manhattan below 96th Street.

This situation has changed. A study conducted by Schaller Consulting in November 2001 showed that in some parts of Midtown, customers are more likely to be offered a ride by a livery driver than a medallion cab driver. Overall, 3.9 liveries stopped for testers attempting to hail a cab per 30 minutes of testing, or one livery car every 7.8 minutes. Two liveries stopped for every three taxis that stopped at these randomly selected locations.

The figures below show that illegal livery street hail activity is most prevalent in the Midtown core after 5 p.m. on weekdays, and on Saturday evening in the Theater District.

Livery Street Hail Activity in Midtown Manhattan

Number of liveries stopping for street hailer per 30 minutes
Randomly-selected locations
November 2001

Midtown Core (40-60 Street; Park-Sixth Ave.)

Other Midtown Areas

Upper East/West Sides* and Theatre District

*60-72 Street, 3 Ave. to West End Ave.