TAXI: 'Every day I drive people who are out of their minds...I feel like someday my brain will get broke'

NEW YORK, May 26, 2009 —New York City cabbie Mohammed Abudakar spends his day dodging traffic cops, listening to irate passengers and knotted in rush hour traffic that often begins right after lunch.

“It’s very difficult,” Abudakar said. “There’s a lot of pressure. 90 percent of the cab drivers, they have high blood-pressure. I’m one of them too.”

In Manhattan, a town known for its symbolic yellow hacks, driving a taxi has become much more difficult. And inside America's largest city, where there are more than 13,000 taxicabs, the crush of a financial slowdown, skyrocketing ticket costs and a surplus of cabs is making it harder and harder for drivers to earn a living. And that doesn’t account for the big Apple’s legendary traffic.

“The second most stressful job in America is driving a taxi,” said Bill Lindauer, New York Taxi Worker’s Alliance Campaigns Coordinator. “What’s the first most stressful job? Being president of the United States. So we’re only the second most stressful job. That’s why we make the big bucks.”

A trip in a Manhattan cab can be a short hop from Broadway to the Port Authority Bus Terminal or a long lift to one of the three airports, LaGuardia, JFK or Newark. And with each passing day, cab drivers report that passengers are getting more ornery.

“Every day I drive people who are out of their minds,” driver Hector Sadiq said. “They blame me for everything…And if somebody shows me a finger or is using bad words it hurts me…I feel like someday I will get a heart attack, or my brain will get broke.”

Many cabbies are fed up with what they call doormat treatment.

“Why should we be scabs for the city?” Lindauer asked. “The city never does anything good for us.”

And to make matters worse, some cab drivers believe they are being targeted for tickets.

“I hope that’s not true. I really hope so,” said Vincent Sapone, League of Mutual Taxi Owners managing director said. “But when you see our tickets you begin to wonder.”

Police deny the accusation, saying they are simply trying to keep the roads safe.

“Na, na, no. (The police) are just doing their routine job. They just doing their job,” Public Safety Officer Derick Everett said while directing taxis by the Madison Square Garden. “Most (taxis), they like to violate and skip and get between other cars and all that. So they know they’re supposed to follow the rules, but drivers here don’t usually follow the rules. So that’s why they always get pulled over and get a ticket.”

“See everybody has their different opinions, but from what I see, that’s what I see, I’m just here to follow rules and regulations, just like everybody else,” he added. “If they can’t comply with that, my best (advice) is just, ‘Take it to the mayor. Take it to the mayor.’”

Not all cabbies are claiming innocence. Most are asking for equality.

“The police sometimes excuse regular motorists, but they’ll pick up cab drivers,” Lindauer said. “And instead of giving them one ticket, we’ll give them three or four tickets at the same time. It’s a shame.”

Tickets have grown so common for some cab drivers they have become “part of the job” says Mohammad Hatta, a three-year cabbie. Taxis drivers lose their license after six points, so fighting tickets in court is more about erasing the points than getting the money back.

“We don’t mind to pay the fee – you know what I mean? – because we will lose anyway,” Hatta said. “You’re not going to fight the law. I mean, they always have to find a law to nail you. But at least we get out from the points. Sometimes paying them is part of the job.”

The drooping economy and constant tickets are causing some cab drivers to reexamine their careers.

“(A ticket) can mean most of a day’s income, or even more than one day’s income,” Lindauer said. “Does it pay for him to get out of bed? I think not.”

Still, many cab drivers are staring through the windshield, hoping for a better future.

“It’s just that I wish there was a way where somehow the cab driver could have a better life and something to look forward to, ok, in the future,” Sapone said. “Today it’s a stepping stone job to go get a hotdog stand or something. I mean, there’s no future. It’s terrible. And I feel for cab drivers. I got cab drivers in my blood.”