Evgeny Friedman told to keep safe the Citigroup tower area in Queens where taxis were set to be abandoned
A man dubbed the “New York Taxi King” because of his huge fleet of yellow cabs was set to surrender 46 taxi cabs and their medallions after a court dispute over a $34 million unpaid loan with Citibank NA, court papers revealed.
A native of Russia, Evgeny Freidman took over his father’s modest taxi business in 1996 and expanded it into one of the New York City’s largest taxi fleets.
A bankruptcy judge blocked Freidman from his plan to abandon these 46 taxis outside the Citigroup tower in Queens after his very public dispute with the lender.
In court, Bankruptcy judge Carla Craig instructed Mr. Freidman and his lawyers to keep the taxicabs in his possession under further notice.
Papers revealed that Mr. Freidman was unable to refinances his debt to Citibank NA and told the judge he would surrender the medallions.
Freidman had tried to keep Citibank from taking possession of the 46 taxi medallions by putting a large part of his taxi companies in bankruptcy protection in 2015.
In New York City, a medallion is required in order to legally pick up passengers flagging on the street. You cannot operate a taxi in New York without one.
While Mr. Freidman’s lawyers advised it was largely due to a bank error, Citibank representatives advised that Mr. Freidman’s companies missed making a monthly loan payment in December 2014. Citibank denied any bank error and also denied additional allegations that the bank was trying to win business from Uber, the new transportation service that had taken some customers away from taxi drivers.
The competition is as fierce as ever in the for-hire transportation industry as newer ride-hailing services continued to put pressure on traditional taxi companies. Across the country taxis, which are regulated by local governments on everything from price to the color of the cars, struggle to compete with cheaper alternatives.
Despite this trend, Mr. Freidman has remained optimistic that taxi companies will rebound and continue to profit. He strongly felt that the medallions will continue to hold their value and therefore proposed a loan payment plan over the duration of five years. The Bankruptcy judge rejected this payment plan.
By Samantha
YellowCabNYCTaxi.com Staff Writer
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who is next ?
Uber??
The tlc deregulated the industry, now there are no rules.
seams no body coming back from holidays ..streets entirely empty
Bronx has only one garage, in the morning rush hour the garage is full of car in the yard no space, why? is it because their crooks or what?
some photos of that garage
another photos, crook garages are paying more price on this taxi hurricane
Wh should ve stopped ehail apps thieves..Drivers or taxi companies and medallion owners..??
self employed drivers wouldn’t drive it anymore because these companies were thinking they would collect lease and didn’t care for driver living income..let them send those cabs to cuba ..it’s time to drive them in cuba..
Uber is taking its 30%-40% commission. Taxi lease is actually cheaper. Not to mention an Uber driver pays ALL the expenses and is personally liable if anything goes wrong. Driving Uber is a losing proposition. That’s why only amateurs drive it.
Australian government offers voluntary medallion buyback. That’s what NYC and TLC should do instead of unreasonably accommodating Uber and its rich owners.
TLC is curupt. Making Medallion worthless is part of their plan.
Friendman has made a good payment plan, return 46 medallion to citi bank, value of 46 medallion = $0 because no body wants to buy it, citi bank will get the medallion only, no money.
@Anonymous lot of drivers drive Uber despite knowing they loss, still Uber is great because they don’t have to spent extra money for a personal car. Also this is a revolt against yellowcab taxi business which is a full of corruption, when you see medallion price still around $350,000/= and some idiot drivers still buying them, where this price should be around $50,000/= with the car.
So people going to Uber still doing great, make as much as yellowcab drivers make, and don’t have to pay $350K for medallion, but pay $450 dollar for TLC plate and make $$$
Driving for uber is a losing proposition. Forced to take $3 uberpool rides or get low rating or time out. What a joke, why would anyone support or promote such crap is beyond me.
People who drive uber can’t count. All amateurs and lowIQ drivers are now uber. Nonetheless TLC sold cabbies out and broke medallion laws. TLC should compensate cabbies. Take it from $70 billion dollar uber corporation.
If a taxi medallion is ever 50K it won’t be worth driving a taxi.
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