Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Know English? For New York Cabdrivers, That’s No Longer Required
New York Times ^ | August 19, 2016 | EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS

Posted on 08/20/2016 10:23:32 AM PDT by reaganaut1

Hail a yellow taxi in New York City, and there is a good chance the driver is from another country. Passengers are regularly exposed to a range of languages that span the globe, from Spanish to Bengali to Urdu.

It can be charming, but also maddening for riders who feel that drivers do not understand where they want to go. Don’t you have to speak English, some wonder, to drive a taxi here?

As of Friday, the answer is no.

That is when new rules went into effect eliminating the requirement that taxi drivers take an English proficiency exam. Now, the test for a taxi license is available in several languages, to accommodate non-English speakers.

The sponsors of a City Council bill to remove the English test argued that the requirement was a barrier for would-be drivers from immigrant communities who were looking for work. But the shift has prompted concerns over whether communication between taxi drivers and passengers could become even more difficult.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: New York
KEYWORDS: bluezones; english; immigrants; language; nyc; taxidrivers; taxis
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041 next last
Several of the immigrant cabdrivers quoted in the article think that there should continue to be an English requirement, for the obvious reason that cabdrivers need to communicate with customers.
1 posted on 08/20/2016 10:23:33 AM PDT by reaganaut1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Whatever happened to the stereotypical New York cabbie who had a Brooklyn accent????

Why is it that, entire sectors of our economy are dominated by people not born in this country?

How is it that cab drivers in major cities, are almost to a man, not born in this country?

How is it that, in many major cities, hotel maids are Hispanic??

How is it that, in many places, independent hotels and motels are run by Indians from India??

How is it that, in some places around the country, fast food workers are of any age and not born in this country, as opposed to the stereotypical teens and young adults who used to do this type of work?

While you can’t speak to the immigration status of any of these people within a post on a site like this, you wonder, how is it that native born Americans just don’t do certain types of jobs anymore???


2 posted on 08/20/2016 10:28:33 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Just more evidence of liberal madness.
Eff NYC, now scratched off conference, client and tourism list.

RE: “Several of the immigrant cabdrivers quoted in the article think that there should continue to be an English requirement, for the obvious reason that cabdrivers need to communicate with customers”


3 posted on 08/20/2016 10:29:09 AM PDT by MarchonDC09122009 (When is our next march on DC? When have we had enough?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

complete insanity


4 posted on 08/20/2016 10:33:04 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (He wins & we do, our nation does, the world does. It's morning in America again. You are living it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Hey, what could go wrong? [/s]


5 posted on 08/20/2016 10:33:35 AM PDT by rbg81 (Truth is stranger than fiction)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego

The “Patel hotel” or “Patel motel” phenomenon, as it is popularly known,[7] has made a major impact on the American hospitality industry.

A sizable number of Indian immigrants to the United States came in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of them worked in blue collar jobs and saved up to buy undervalued or dilapidated properties, turning them into businesses.[8] As many as 50% of mid-sized motels and hotel properties all over the US are owned by people of Indian origin. Of this nearly one-third have the surname Patel - a popular one among Indian Gujaratis (those that came from Gujarat). FROM WIKI


The answer is fairly simple - the family sticks together and help each other.


6 posted on 08/20/2016 10:37:37 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (The government is the problem, not the solution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne
complete insanity

Another "Faculty Lounge" decision I'll bet.

7 posted on 08/20/2016 10:37:53 AM PDT by Don Corleone (Oil the gun, eat the cannolis, take it to the mattress.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Don Corleone

What makes our nation a nation at all?

Now we don’t even have an official language, to this cab company (city or whoever runs it).

We are seeing every single common bond broken.

This nation is being gutted.


8 posted on 08/20/2016 10:39:21 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (He wins & we do, our nation does, the world does. It's morning in America again. You are living it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Same goes for truck drivers. There used to be a requirement that a Commercial Drivers License holder could read, speak, and comprehend English. Not any more.

True story - I was in the scale house on Rt 301 in Maryland, just over the Delaware state line. When you enter the scale house you cross a preliminary set of scales that determine whether or not you have to go onto the full-length platform scale. A driver got the sign to pull onto the platform scale. He stopped his truck in the middle of the lot, got out and brought his paperwork into the scale house. He had no idea what to do, could not speak English, yet he somehow made it from California to Maryland. Through a bunch of hand signals and pointing he finally understood what he needed to do.

I asked the officer on duty if the requirement to read, speak, and comprehend English no longer applied. He told me they used to be able to yank the license of anyone driving a commercial motor vehicle that could not follow directions in English. Now they people just hire an interpreter and a lawyer. The judge doesn’t want to appear racist so they let them off if the driver promises to learn English. They never see them or check up on their progress.


9 posted on 08/20/2016 10:39:30 AM PDT by big truck
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

I has an UBER driver in LA Wednesday who had difficulty with english. We waited in a long line on an on-ramp while cars zoomed by us in the diamond lane on the left. I pointed out that we were diamond lane eligible but I could not get through to the UBER guy, so we waited.


10 posted on 08/20/2016 10:41:00 AM PDT by Neanderthal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Ever take a cab in DC? You’d better bring the tourist map with you and the written address to show to the non-english speaking cab driver. And then they will still act all confused about where they are supposed to go - and drive you around in circles about two blocks from your destination. If you are a first time visitor to that area (including the Arlington area) do yourself a giant favor and study your maps, have the addresses written down, and cross your fingers.


11 posted on 08/20/2016 10:41:39 AM PDT by Ladysforest (Racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia and vulgarity - with just a smattering of threats and violence)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

I don’t see this as a big deal. English proficiency among cab drivers has become increasingly irrelevant in a city where more and more of the people who ride the cabs don’t speak English as their first language. You’re probably more likely to hear English spoken in Hong Kong than in New York City.


12 posted on 08/20/2016 10:41:54 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Sometimes I feel like I've been tied to the whipping post.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego

Agreed.

How is it the corrupt elites in government have enabled the exportation of our jobs to China, etc and the importation of poverty and cheap labor we don’t need from 3rd world countries?

How is it these same elites bailed out and rewarded the incompetent Wall St crowd with the tax money & debt of working Americans that are being screwed.

We need to take our country back from the malfeasance of cronies and thieves.


13 posted on 08/20/2016 10:46:10 AM PDT by apoliticalone (Political correctness should be defined as news media that exposes political corruption)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

replace their asses.

14 posted on 08/20/2016 10:47:07 AM PDT by GraceG (Only a fool works hard in an environment where hard work is not appreciated...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego
How is it that cab drivers in major cities, are almost to a man, not born in this country?

Because it's a lousy, low-paying (unless you are an amazing hustler)dangerous job in which there are always always openings.

15 posted on 08/20/2016 10:52:24 AM PDT by luvbach1 (We are finished. It will just take a while before everyone realizes it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: GraceG

No problem self driving cars they are all gone.


16 posted on 08/20/2016 10:54:02 AM PDT by magua
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

So if someone who only speaks English (GASP!) waves a taxi and wants to go to a named building (say, the Chyrsler Building) but doesn’t know the street and number, they’re out of luck?

What happens when a bilingual Japanese (Japanese and English) comes to NY and wants to go to Manhattan from JFK, but wants to go over a bridge and not through a tunnell?

So many problems with this. But then again, that’s probably the plan.


17 posted on 08/20/2016 10:55:58 AM PDT by Paulie (America without Christ is like a Chemistry book without the periodic table.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
An important view; (Should American Fear Islam...)

(Counterjihad Panels at CPAC) 2016....listen to all...Sharia Law cannot exist without Islam...Sharia is Islam! . Sharia is being pushed by not just Muslim politicians, Imams but many politicians who willingly submit...This is your country and your security is being threatened for Sharia. (this evil)

18 posted on 08/20/2016 11:00:42 AM PDT by yoe (BLM = Benghazi Lives Mattered!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Wonder if anyone voting for this got anything from Uber?


19 posted on 08/20/2016 11:15:34 AM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne

The balkanization has been well underway, for decades.


20 posted on 08/20/2016 11:20:31 AM PDT by Carriage Hill ( Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson