De Blasio Says He Will Wacksky Yassky If Elected Mayorsky

By on September 19, 2013 11:46 pm in Election 13, Government

Democratic mayoral hopeful/Park Slope dad/father of the kid with the best afro since the ’76 Topps Traded card of Oscar Gamble Bill De Blasio said today that one of the first things he’ll do if elected would be to fire Brooklyn Heights resident/TLC commissioner David Yassky.

Capital New York: “Well, I’d start by getting a new chairman for the Taxi and Limousine Commission,” said de Blasio, the Democratic nominee for mayor, speaking to WWRL radio show host Mark Riley this morning. “The guy who’s there now, David Yassky, is someone who I’ve regularly disagreed with. And I want someone who will work with the drivers.”

Conspiracy theorists and/or those paying attention will note, as CNY does in its piece, that Yassky has had a good relationship with the Taxi Workers Alliance during his tenure.

As for De Blasio:

Capital New York: “A review of all contributions to de Blasio raised by or made by taxi lawyers, owners and other associates in the 2013 campaign tallies $254,451, making them de Blasio’s biggest backers by far,” reported Wayne Barrett in the Daily News earlier this month. “Fleet owner Ron Sherman is the most powerful taxi leader, just as his father Donald was in the 1980s before he was convicted in a federal felony case, and he orchestrated the de Blasio deluge of support.”

While De Blasio was busy dissing Yassky this morning, the TLC czar was participating in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) with filmmaker Joshua Z Weinstein about his taxi garage doc ‘Drivers Wanted’.

Here’s a sample exchange:

[–]filmchick1269 1 point 10 hours ago
David, There are more Yellow cabs driving from Manhattan to the outer boroughs, namely Brooklyn. Sometimes, there are still a huge problem with getting a cab to go to Brooklyn. Can you talk about that?
[–]yasskytlcDavid Yassky 1 point 10 hours ago
Taxi drivers are required to accept a trip to any destination in NYC. If driver turns down trip to Brooklyn, PLEASE call 311 with medallion number and time/place of incident. I do think the problem of refusals has gotten better, but only way to keep reducing is if passengers report violations. Also, smartphone apps will help — we’ve ensured that driver does not know passengers’ destination when s/he decides whether to accept an e-hail.

And when asked what his favorite “taxi movie” was, Yassky said, “Well, “taxi Driver” hands down. Reminds us what NYC was like in the 70s…. But favorite taxi characters — maybe Ernest Borgnine in “Escape from NY”? Hmmm.. guess theme is dystopian NYC films, both naturalistic and mythical.”

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  • wally

    I drove a taxi for Donald Sherman’s Midland Garage fleet in the late 70’s when I was a student at the School of Visual Arts. I met his son, Ron, when he was a full-time college student and he worked part-time behind the dispatcher’s window. He is a nice, smart guy. He is progressive and well meaning. I think his support for Bill de Blasio is ideological. Ron is an enlightened human being, and his is thinking of his worker’s welfare under a new mayor.

    Yassky is an official a$$wipe. He gave Bloomberg the final vote he needed to get his 3rd term. The taxi commissioner’s job was his reward for that. David Yassky is like a pimple. He has to be popped. The taxi commission needs to heal with new leadership.

  • David on Middagh

    Wally wrote: “Yassky… gave Bloomberg the final vote he needed to get his 3rd term.”

    Modulo voting order, you could say the same thing about any council member who voted for the extra term. (I was in favor, at the time, as I don’t really believe in term limits, and the original term limitation was not exactly a grassroots campaign.)

    If a new Taxi & Limo Commish would get rid of TVs in the backseat, I’d call it progress, as would many drivers.

  • Andrew Porter

    That headline is not your finest hour. Sounds like you’re channeling “The Brooklyn Paper”.