NEW YORK 6TH TAXI DRIVER TOPS HIMSELF

New York City taxi driver Abdul Saleh, 59, was found hanging by an electrical cord in his apartment Friday. Saleh was reportedly struggling financially, and was the sixth driver in the city to take their own life in the past eight months. Advocacy groups and activists have blamed a wave of financial desperation among longtime professional drivers on increased competition from ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.

According to the New York Post, Saleh had not been making enough money to cover the lease on his taxicab and medallion. His business partner said Saleh had “sounded upset and depressed.”

Saleh’s story so far appears to parallel those of other drivers who have killed themselves. The most prominent of those was Doug Schifter, a longtime driver for hire. Schifter publicly chronicled the bleak impact of increased competition on his livelihood before violently taking his own life in front of New York’s City Hall.

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