I guess we shouldn't have expected much. After all, New York City hasn't has an attractive or comfortable taxi fleet since since the Checkers were phased out in the '60s. But a minivan? A big, bulbous, boxy minvan? That's what the winner of a taxi competition is, the Nissan NV200. Even Bloomberg conceded it looked like a family car. Its selection confirms what I've always thought about our Mayor—that's he's essentially a suburban, bourgeoise type with no taste, who doesn't understand, or care for, the urban aesthetic at all. He wants Manhattan to look like New Rochelle or White Plains. A grid filled with minivans will help achieve that end, just as much as the administration's awful bus shelters, newsstands and pedestrian malls.
There are other reasons to dislike the choice, too. Nissan beat out Karsan, a Turkish company that was going to make a vehicle capable of running on an electric-only engine, and pledged to build the cars in Brooklyn. Nissan will build theirs in Mexico. (Another suspicion confirmed: Bloomberg doesn't care about the welfare of the outer boroughs, and isn't interested in any industries in New York beyond finance, construction and tourism.)
Additionally, there are already calls for an investigation of a conflict of interest in the contract-letting. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Assembly member Micah Kellner. A consultant in the competition, Ricardo Inc., has had past dealings with Nissan, a former client.
Looks like a cheerful hearse painted yellow. Bloomberg sucks!
ReplyDeleteNo one on any of the blogs I've read, both general NYC blogs and transportation focused blogs, likes this.
ReplyDeleteOne interesting angle to this is that the Bloomberg era has finally gotten entrenched enough to start doing long term damage to the city. Up until now, the changes were reversible. With different government policies (granted most of the policies underlying the changes were at the federal level, eg the housing bubble), the rents could fall and stabilize, the middle class could start returning, and so on. The look and feel of the city has still largely been the same, thanks largely to the landmarks law.
However, we are going to have to live with these ugly taxis for decades.
The taxis, bus shelters, newsstands, glut of chain stores, pedestrian mall, bike lanes, high rents, condo towers, poor architecture etc. All arguably reversible, but not until many, many years. We'll have to live in Bloomberg's vision of New York for decades after the jerk has left office and even died. The only thing I'd like to remain are the bike lanes.
ReplyDeleteCompliments on the Onion-worthy headline!
ReplyDeleteWe already got SUVs and and mini vans rolling around town, this new piece of Shit will make it all permanent...
ReplyDeletewhat's up with this, why can't they just keep that old school basic temp plate and design around that. They do it for their cabs in London, why not here?
a conflict of interest in a deal involving new york city taxi industry?? no!!
ReplyDeletewhy am i not surprised.
You're right. It is Onion like. Didn't intend it, tho.
ReplyDeleteTwo comments:
ReplyDeletea) Agreed on all counts about Bloomberg and the new taxis.
b) Regarding the old checkers, much beloved they were, even by me, but "comfortable" was not an adjective you could apply to them.
I guess I just assumed Checkers were comfy. The look so roomy.
ReplyDeleteThe long term damage to New York has definitely begun:
ReplyDeletehttp://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/05/05/shocker_not_everyone_a_fan_of_mutated_chelsea_market.php#more
However, I've found its pretty easy to avoid Chelsea/ the Meatpacking District, and can do the same to the Lower East Side and East Village if need. But once the architectural legacy of past generations gets compromised, its game over. And it looks like that will happen in ten years if this continues.
The Nissan NV200 was designed specifically for use as a taxi in New York City and it has now been officially selected for New York’s future taxi fleet. Nissan touts the NV200 as the safest taxi ever built, with the most passenger room ever.
ReplyDeleteSo how is work over at Nissan, Logo Design?
ReplyDeleteA Checker's back was indeed roomy. The seat itself wasn't especially comfortable, and what was done with the extra legroom was to put in two metal foldup chairs, in which passenger 4 and 5, if present, could sit.
ReplyDeleteYou can see a picture of them here:
http://www.johnrosenthal.com/cityphotos_lg/lg-lost-checker-cab.htm
I always wondered how the foldup chairs could even be legal, as they had no seatbelts and were difficult to stay on even during an ordinary bumpy ride, much less an accident.
Pictures 7 and 9 of this sequence (ironically about a cab in Tulsa, OK) show the back seat area of a Checker.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kansas.com/2011/02/18/1726425_a1725459/taxi.html
When I was in high school and college there were still some checkers. Although we were tempting danger, sometimes you could find a nice cabbie who would let you squashed about eight people inside, including letting someone sit in the front. We were budget-conscious (=pretty much broke).
ReplyDelete