Yellow Cabs Block Traffic On Brooklyn Bridge, FDR Drive Protest

NEW YORK CITY — A blockade of yellow cabs halted traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge in a protest demanding debt forgiveness for cabbies hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Videos streamed online Thursday afternoon, especially in the Citizen app, showed about 100 cabs drive from the bridge and onto FDR Drive. They eventually snaked over to the Queensboro Bridge.

The protest was staged by the NY Taxi Workers, a union representing professional drivers in the city.

“Brooklyn Bridge SLOWDOWN!” the union tweeted. “Driver power! Union power! Debt forgiveness now!”

Like most New York City industries, cabbies have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The slowdown in fares also coincided with increasing competition with drivers from ride-share apps like Uber and Lyft, as well predatory loans that could lead to a $500 million bailout.

Cab drivers held a conference in front of City Hall to bring attention to their plight, according to the union’s Twitter account. About 80 percent of cab drivers are food insecure, it tweeted.

The account posted videos from the protest route and ensuing traffic slowdowns. A woman with a megaphone in one video details how the city and banks failed to take action on the debts from the predatory loans.

“If you work day and night to serve this city and all you got was silence from the city, then you understand the pain of a cab driver,” she said.