A bill seeking to penalize cab drivers who knowingly aid prostitution by ferrying hookers is being targeted by a group of women who say the legislation will prevent cab drivers from picking up legitimate women in scantily-dressed attire.
One woman who protested outside of City Hall on Thursday told The New York Post, “They don’t even know who is a prostitute or not! You don’t have a shirt on that tells if you’re a prostitute or not.” The new bill is also hoping to enforce mandatory training for those applying for a Taxi and Limousine Commission license on how to identify prostitutes and provide them with available resources on how to escape sex-trafficking. The Post notes the scene of Thursdays protest was filled with “hot babes” and bartenders.
An official from the tax union echoed their concerns and proposed, “I will challenge any one of you to tell me which one of [these women] you would consider to be a prostitute. They’re all sexy.” As we predicted in May when the bill was first introduced, the scenario in which a driver distributes sex-trafficking pamphlets to non-hookers will provide some painfully awkward moments for said driver just trying to do his job and avoid a staggering $10,000 fine.
Queens Councilman Dan Halloran criticized the bill as a waste of public funds, “Here we’re going to spend $2 million dollars and educate cabbies to be social workers and informants for the police department. What are we thinking? How about keeping our after-school programs open? Two-million dollars goes a long way to do that. How about not closing the 20 firehouses the mayor is slating to close so the public is safe?”