I moved out of Manhattan in 1988.

Living in the outer boroughs, I am keenly aware, as are many TDG readers, of the Manhattan-centric rules under which this city often operates. Once in a while, however, someone (usually from an outer borough) finds a way to make things a little better. In this case, TLC Commissioner David Yassky is proposing a method by which we can hail (legally) a gypsy cab in the outer boroughs.

Under the proposal, the "livery cars" would have to be licensed, equipped with meters, GPS systems and credit card payment systems. That way, what we would get is, for all practical purposes, the same as a yellow cab. And since yellow cabs don't patrol outside of Manhattan, and the gypsies could only pick up street hails in the outer boroughs, it would help ease the problem.

It's an excellent proposal. It will solve a problem without creating new problems. I predict that in a few years they will expand it to upper Manhattan as well.