New York City undercover agents looking for biased cabbies

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

The Associated Press

NEW YORK --- Friday was going to be Marv Harris' lucky day, the day he would achieve the rare feat of catching a cab on the first try. The 41-year-old computer programmer, who is black, was dressed in a crisp brown suit, tan overcoat and highly polished black wingtips.

He spied a cab hurtling down Broadway, stepped into the street and raised his right hand. But as the taxi got within 30 feet, its "off duty" sign switched on, and the cabbie changed lanes and sped past.

For a moment, Harris stood like a statue, hand still raised. Then he burst out laughing, incredulous. "So much for my lucky taxi day," he said.

And so it went on the first day of New York City's crackdown on discriminating cabbies. Even the threat of having their taxis temporarily seized couldn't compel some drivers to pick up blacks.

The clampdown is in response to a complaint filed last week by actor Danny Glover after several taxis drove past him.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said that as part of Operation Refusal, undercover police and taxi commission inspectors who catch drivers bypassing blacks would issue citations, suspend drivers' licenses and temporarily confiscate their cabs.

In addition to going after discrimination based on race or gender, officials are targeting cabbies who refuse to go to certain locations --- usually poor, minority neighborhoods and areas outside Manhattan.

The first six hours of Operation Refusal netted seven cabbies, including a driver who kicked a woman out of his taxi in Manhattan after she asked to go to a Brooklyn hospital. The woman turned out to be an undercover taxi inspector.

But for the most part --- after several days of warnings from Giuliani --- drivers were picking up everyone who hailed a cab. The seven refusals came out of a total of 683 checks.

"I think the good news in all of this is that in the overwhelming majority of cases, the cab drivers did what they were supposed to do," Giuliani said.

Glover said he was opposed to the city's tactic because it victimizes cab drivers without attacking the underlying racism.

"There should be some sort of constructive engagement between cab drivers and the community, the people they pick up, their clients," Glover said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Cab drivers --- most of whom are South Asian immigrants --- already are required to spend a full day on cultural diversity during their 80-hour mandatory training. Some said the new rules weren't fair.

"This is not right," said one driver, who refused to give his name. "But drivers will still find ways to do as they wish."

One of those ways seemed to be to simply switch on the cab's "off duty" light until the drivers found a fare they deemed acceptable.

Cabs caught in the sting are driven to a nearby police precinct, and the owner or another licensed driver must pick it up. Drivers have a right to a hearing within five to 10 days.

As for Marv Harris, after 15 minutes and five cabs that passed him but picked up white passengers, he finally got a taxi.

"Today," he said, no longer smiling, "is just like any other day."

--- The Associated Press

Actor Danny Glover

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