New York's New Taxi to Be Unveiled This Week
Vanity Fair's Brett Berk outlines the new features of the Nissan NV200, which will be NYC's taxi for the next decade, and is shown at the New York Auto Show this week:
These include a standard driver’s navigation system that will preclude ever again having to explain which numbered streets precede and follow West 17th, a panoramic glass roof for staring up at the young men on those Hollister billboards, a low-annoyance horn tuned to a frequency that’s only audible to other cabbies (or so we hope), one 12-volt and two USB charging ports so all your batteries will be as fresh as the scent inside the cabin, fuel-economy numbers that double those of the neolithic Ford, and antibacterial pleather seats...
Also baked into the compact new cab: space. And not just inside the cabin, where a flat-floored, “no hump” rear seat and lengthy wheelbase will provide ample legroom for drivers and passengers. On the streets, too: “When all of the Crown Vics are replaced with NV200s,” David Reuter, Nissan’s V.P. of global communications, told us, “there will be five acres of real estate given back to the city of New York.”
The Nissan is set to replace the Ford Crown Victoria and the other models currently on NYC streets.
You sure told me! Those damn immigrants and their ignorance of all those Constitutional Amendments.
Get over yourself. There's a difference between being a proud patriot and ignorant jingoism.
NYC to me, has always represented two things:
1. The world leader in globalization; whether it's the UN, Wall Street, or the centuries of constant immigrant influx.
2. The epitome of American diversity; b/c being American doesn't mean losing touch with your foreign roots.
NYC, its economy, and its people are defined by their connection to the rest of the world; arguably more so than any other place. So what if they went with a foreign company instead of a domestic one? Like that doesn't happen hundreds of times a day in New York. You wanna send the Statue of Liberty back to France, too?
Posted by: Hugh | Apr 2, 2012 10:53:16 PM
"You wanna send the Statue of Liberty back to France, too?"
I wasn't aware that the taxi fleet would be a gift from Japan. That changes everything.
Posted by: David Hearne | Apr 3, 2012 12:27:54 AM
I was always hoping for Lories like in London, with the jump seat , this'll do I guess..now if cab drivers would stop throwing a hissy fit when you say "there will be 2 stops", not to mention throwing you OUT if you tell them one stop is on the west side and the other on the East, and can we get roof racks for larger purchases like ski equipment or that time I needed to move a mattress and was forced to drag the thing on the subway
Posted by: John | Apr 3, 2012 1:18:53 AM
THIS IS SAD FOR NY RESIDENTS + VISITORS. 1. It's a damn ugly converted delivery van. 2. The rear windows don't open. I can only guess this was OK'd by a blind person with no olfactory sense, who has NEVER been in a cab with smelly driver in a NY summer. Who greenlights these programs? Not the drivers (who never would have selected this vehicle which, I suspect will become problematic for a long list of other reasons like front wheel drive, heavy tire consumption, etc, etc). Not the riders who will surely take issue with my points above. This is sadly a $ issue, obviously underwritten by Nissan. We get to relive a poor recession choice for the next 5-10 years. Mr Bloomberg, WTF?
Posted by: Matt | Apr 3, 2012 9:18:49 AM