Mayor Bill de Blasio has he indicated he might cancel the Taxi of Tomorrow program even if the city continues to prevail in court. But doing so could cost the city as much as $100 million, according to a capitalnewyork.com report
Following a lengthy competition, in 2011 Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed to give Nissan near-exclusive rights to supply yellow taxis for New York City Streets. Its winning design was the big and ugly, but feature-rich NV200, which sports amenities like back-seat airbags, moon roofs, phone-charging ports and passenger reading lights.
Nissan apparently claims that developing the vehicle cost Nissan about $100 million, and that the city would be on the hook for that sum.
De Blasio, as public advocate, opposed the Taxi of Tomorrow on the grounds that Nissan had investments in Iran and that the vehicle was not wheelchair-accessible-- which is now even more awkward nowadays in that the city has also promised to make half of the city's taxis wheelchair friendly.
Taxi fleet owners, who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the mayor's campaign have battled the program in court, first successfully, but lately unsuccessfully. That battle could continue if the mayor decides to proceed with the program. Presumably, if the NY Court of Appeals, which may have the last word, decides that the program was unlawful after all, the city would no longer own Nissan for canceling the deal.
Following a lengthy competition, in 2011 Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed to give Nissan near-exclusive rights to supply yellow taxis for New York City Streets. Its winning design was the big and ugly, but feature-rich NV200, which sports amenities like back-seat airbags, moon roofs, phone-charging ports and passenger reading lights.
Nissan apparently claims that developing the vehicle cost Nissan about $100 million, and that the city would be on the hook for that sum.
De Blasio, as public advocate, opposed the Taxi of Tomorrow on the grounds that Nissan had investments in Iran and that the vehicle was not wheelchair-accessible-- which is now even more awkward nowadays in that the city has also promised to make half of the city's taxis wheelchair friendly.
Taxi fleet owners, who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the mayor's campaign have battled the program in court, first successfully, but lately unsuccessfully. That battle could continue if the mayor decides to proceed with the program. Presumably, if the NY Court of Appeals, which may have the last word, decides that the program was unlawful after all, the city would no longer own Nissan for canceling the deal.
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