NEW YORK
Banking giant Capital One says Taxi King Gene Freidman hasn’t paid his fare on $8.4 million in defaulted loans.
The bank’s petition to collect the debt, filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court, comes eight months after Madison Realty Capital moved to foreclose on 11 Coney Island properties owned by Freidman.
Freidman made a fortune buying New York City taxi medallions and renting them out to drivers, and funneled much of his money into real estate.
Between 2002 and 2012, Freidman bought at least 23 buildings in Brooklyn and Queens. His empire crumbled when the rise of ride-hailing apps sent the value of taxi medallions (whose supply is artificially limited by the city) on a tailspin.
In 2014, Freidman defaulted on several Capital One loans, which he had taken out to buy taxi medallions since 2011. Last July, Capital One won a court judgment ordering Freidman to pay back $8.4 million in outstanding loans, which the bank says remains unpaid.
Capital One wants Freidman’s properties to be handed over to a “designated sheriff” until the outstanding loan balance and Capital One’s legal costs are paid off.
In November, The Real Deal reported that Freidman had also been tussling with Citibank over $34 million in unpaid taxi-medallion loans.
The bank also sued him, and accused him of transferring real estate properties to different entities to keep them from his lender’s grasp. In January, Citibank won a court order blocking the transfers.
A spokesperson for Capital One did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
http://goo.gl/Q4qT4H
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Delhi: Auto rickshaw, taxi strike hits commuters hard in the city
The strike hit commuters hard with many stranded in several places including Connaught place, railway stations, and ISBTs.
The city’s auto and taxi unions on Tuesday went on an indefinite strike against app-based taxi services, causing hardship to thousands of commuters.
Twenty unions of autos and taxis have formed a Joint Action Committee, which has called for the indefinite strike. The Committee claimed about 85,000 auto and 15,000 yellow-black taxis have gone off the capital roads. The Delhi government has termed the strike as “politically-motivated”, saying banning the operation of app-based cab services does not come under its ambit and instead the Centre should do something in this regard.
The strike hit commuters hard with many stranded in several places including Connaught place, railway stations, and ISBTs.
Kishan Verma, president of All Delhi Auto-Taxi Transport Congress Union (ADATTCU), said the drivers of auto and taxi drivers are protesting against app-based services. “Uber and Ola don’t have permit to run their taxis in Delhi, but despite that the government is allowing them to take away our livelihood,” Verma said.
Rajendra Soni, general secretary of Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union, said there is now no room for talks with the Delhi Government and the Kejriwal dispensation will realise what is the “power of auto and taxi drivers”.
It’s perhaps for the first time that the unions, which are affiliated to major political parties including BJP and Congress, in the city, have come together and given a call for a strike.
http://goo.gl/Jzp8z5
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BIRMINGHAM LPG.
Taxi driver Ahmednur Hassan has praised an innovative project to make Birmingham’s Hackney Carriage fleet cleaner by fitting vehicles with new LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) engines.
Birmingham is one of six cities mandated by the Government to introduce a Clean Air Zone by 2020. The zone will not have to apply to private vehicles but will cover vehicles such as HGVs, buses and taxis that are not compliant.
http://birminghamnewsroom.com/cabbie-praises-green-taxi-lpg-scheme/
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THE BEER BUTTON
It resembles something you’d see in a cartoon beneath a sign saying: “DON’T PRESS THIS BUTTON.”
But nothing disastrous will happen when you decide to tap a red device we’ve dubbed the beer button.
In fact, quite the opposite, because this is a gadget that is designed to do just one job: get you to the pub where a pint is waiting for you.
The beer button was invented by Kozel, a Czech beer firm, and is actually called “Tap Out” because it’s made for thirsty office workers to use at the end of a hard day’s work.
Chris McLardie, Kozel brand director, said: “The Kozel Tap Out button is your ultimate shortcut to good times, getting you and your friend to the pub in comfort and style. Push the button and you could be enjoying a delicious Kozel in minutes. No stress, no fuss, just fun.”
We pressed the beer button on Friday last week and were in a pub minutes later, drinking cold pints.
The remarkable device operates wirelessly, connecting to the internet via a dongle.
It uses an app called Hailo to summon a black taxi, which arrived outside Sun Towers in London Bridge within about two minutes.
When we arrived in a pub called Drift near Liverpool Street, three chilly pints of Kozel were waiting.
Sadly, it’s unclear whether the beer button is a genuine product or simply a publicity stunt, because we’d bet it would be an enormously popular gadget.
https://goo.gl/ZIZegJ
Comment; Believe it or not I believe the Taxi Butler (pic attached) is being installed in Pubs around Salford. Just imagine how many 'No jobs' you will get, with kn*b heads, pressing it for a laugh.
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NEWCASTLE
Hero cabbie Davey Hope will be laid to rest this week.
Loved ones of the tragic taxi driver will gather to say their last goodbyes at a funeral this Friday.
The service will take place at Newcastle’s West Road Crematorium at 2.15pm.
Davey was struck by a car early on Saturday July 16 when he pulled over after to help at the scene of a crash.
The 43-year-old, from Wallsend, called police after spotting a car had crashed into the central reservation on the A19.
But he was hit by another vehicle after getting out his cab to see if he could help.
In a death notice placed in the Chronicle Davey is describe as: “Beloved husband of Jacki, much loved son of John and Lynne, cherished dad of Karl and Cheryl, proud grandad of Jayden and Ollie, loving brother of Alexander.”
The family go on to say: “David will be sadly missed by all family and friends.”
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PENNSYLVANIA
After an emotionally wrenching hearing Tuesday, the Uber driver convicted of sexually assaulting a 24-year-old passenger who hired him to drive her from Center City to Montgomery County was sentenced to 71/2 to 15 years in prison.
Abdellah Elkaddi, 47, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Morocco, was ordered by Montgomery County Court Judge Thomas P. Rogers to serve five years' probation in addition to his jail term. At his April trial, a jury had deliberated 61/2 hours before finding him guilty of a variety of assault charges, but acquitting him of rape.
Elkaddi "injured my heart and soul beyond words," the woman testified at the sentencing hearing. The experience had so traumatized her, she said, that she lost her job at a law firm and required therapy.
As she spoke, her father wiped away tears.
She testified that the June night last year on which the attack occurred, a night "meant to be one of fun with peers and colleagues," instead "turned into a night of shock and terror."
Elkaddi showed little emotion during the 90-minute hearing, which an interpreter translated into Arabic.
The judge said Elkaddi had "robbed" the family. "I realize that every day, that family gets up and that's the first thing that comes to her mind," Rogers said.
About 11 p.m. June 10, 2015, Elkaddi picked up the woman after she called for a ride from Center City, having spent the evening with coworkers. He drove her to the Norristown Transportation Center, where she believed she had left her car. When they arrived, the car wasn't there.
Elkaddi then drove the passenger to the Norristown police station for help. No officers were available to assist her, so the woman asked Elkaddi to drive her to her home.
She fell asleep during the drive. When she woke up, Elkaddi was assaulting her.
The woman then told Elkaddi to drop her off near the West Norriton police station. She went inside and reported the assault.
At the start of Tuesday's hearing, she took the stand, her voice trembling as she stated and spelled her name. She tearfully described the effect of the assault on her and her family, pausing frequently to compose herself.
Elkaddi "violated me and my body for his own selfish pleasure," the woman said. In addition to losing her job, she said, she has had difficulty taking the classes and tests necessary to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Her father described Elkaddi as "an animal" who violated his daughter's trust. "I've had to come to terms with this as a father," he said. "I was available - I could have picked her up."
After admonishing Elkaddi for failing to express remorse, the father looked him in the eyes and described him as sitting in "a toxic pit of cowardice."
The damage Elkaddi did to his daughter "can't be measured," he said.
Elkaddi's lawyer, William Reilly, said he wished that his client had expressed remorse and offered an apology, but "we don't have that here. He does maintain his innocence," Reilly said.
When offered the opportunity to make a statement, Elkaddi declined, saying, "No thank you, your honor."
Reilly called the assault an aberration and a mistake for Elkaddi, who had no prior criminal record.
Prosecutor Michelle Henry scoffed at that description, which she said was an attempt to minimize the crime. Henry, a Bucks County prosecutor specially sworn in to handle the case, argued for consecutive sentences, which Rogers ordered.
"The victim showed a lot of courage throughout the trial," Henry said after the hearing. "Hopefully, she can put it all behind her."
