5th Taxi Driver's Death Prompts More Calls To Regulate Uber

NEW YORK, NY — New York City taxi drivers called for tougher regulations for app-based car services while mourning the death of Kenny Chow, a cabbie who they say was pushed to suicide by pressures on his industry.

"It's Wall Street's killing machine that City Hall has to stop, and we will not give them any more time," Biju Mathew of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance said at a Tuesday rally.

Police pulled Chow's body from the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after he parked his taxi near the river on the Upper East Side and disappeared. The body was identified as Chow's on Sunday, the NYPD said.

Chow was at least the fifth suicide by a professional driver to die by suicide in as many months. Drivers held a vigil Sunday at the Upper East Side park near where he left his cab.

He was an "immigrant with a dream who unconditionally loved his family," Richard Chow, Kenny Chow's brother, said Tuesday before tearing up.

Chow, 56, bought a medallion around 2011 for about $700,000. He'd recently struggled to earn enough money to make the $3,500 monthly mortgage payments despite working seven days a week, his brother said last week.

His death follows the March suicide of Nicanor Ochisor, a driver and medallion owner from Maspeth, Queens who hanged himself after financial struggles drove him to anger and depression. Three other professional drivers have taken their own lives since December.

Taxi advocates say booming companies like Uber and Lyft undercut their industry, pushing many drivers and taxi medallion owners to destitution, desperation and even death.

Dozens of drivers gathered outside City Hall — near where black-car driver Douglas Schifter killed himself in February — called on the City Council to immediately pass stricter regulations for the app-based sector, including a cap on the number of for-hire vehicles running on city streets.

They also want the taxi meter rate set as the minimum fare across the industry and a program to help drivers who also own medallions.

"The human crisis you see today is a result of political failure," said Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the Taxi Workers Alliance.

The Council has taken up a new effort to do some of those things after passing on a chance to cap Uber's growth in 2015.

A new Committee on For-Hire Vehicles is considering several bills that would strengthen the city's regulatory grip on app-based services, including a temporary cap on new for-hire vehicle licenses and steep fees.

"We are taking a hard look at what changes can be made to protect these drivers," Council Speaker Corey Johnson said in a statement.

Uber opposes the bills, saying they would ultimately harm drivers, small businesses and New Yorkers in the outer boroughs who rely on the service to get around.

In a statement, an Uber spokeswoman said lenders have played a role in the plight taxi drivers face. Kenny Chow's supporters have said Melrose Credit Union, which gave him the loan for his medallion, had been trying to intimidate him.

"We are deeply saddened and our thoughts are with Mr. Chow's family," said the spokeswoman, Danielle Filson. "Drivers who own individual medallions have been left behind by change and exploited by lenders, and we support action that eases their financial burden."

Chow is survived by a daughter and a wife who is currently battling stage four colon cancer. Richard Chow set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise $100,000 to cover the cost of Chow's widow's medical treatment and his daughter's education. Some 49 people had given more than $3,900 as of Tuesday evening.

Chow's allies don't want any other family to experience that kind of pain.

"Something needs to give, and it can't continue to be the drivers," Desai said.

(Lead image: Taxi drivers mourned Yu Mein "Kenny" Chow's apparent suicide at a vigil on Sunday. Photo courtesy of GoFundMe, a Patch media partner)