New York Mayor Wants Riders to Line Up Peaceably for Taxis

It’s a typical New York street scene: A kamikaze cab, ignoring traffic and pedestrians, swerves across four lanes to pick up a jaywalking fare.

Not so fast, says Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who wants to ease the chronic traffic congestion and make streets a more genteel place.

He has proposed a daytime ban on hailing cabs in the heart of Manhattan, with people instead lining up politely at taxi stands and drivers queuing up neatly.

“This law cannot work,” taxi driver Asif Chaudhry declared Tuesday. “Most people want, ‘Right here! Right now!’ If you go five feet further, they get crazy.”

That’s right, said rider Eric Jones of Manhattan, who was waiting patiently for a cab outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal. “If I want a cab, I’m just going to get one. And most likely, he’ll pick me up. That’s just how it works. People in New York don’t wait in line.”

Under Giuliani’s proposal, the latest in his “quality of life” campaign that has cracked down on panhandlers and public drinkers, taxi stands would operate weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from 30th to 60th streets. Riders could be dumped as many as 100 feet from their destinations. Rebellious cabbies could be fined as much as $55.