The Couple in the Backseat
It was a regular Tuesday afternoon. Midtown was jammed like always — delivery trucks double-parked, cabbies leaning on their horns, pedestrians playing Frogger with the crosswalk. I had just dropped off a finance guy near Bryant Park when a young couple flagged me down on Lexington. They looked freshly married — not in tux and…
Read More
What the City Tells Me at 3AM
At 3AM, New York City changes its voice. The honks fade. The sirens quiet down. Even the streetlights seem to blink slower. It’s in this hour — this strange, heavy silence — that I feel most connected to the city. Like we’re both tired, both still awake, and both pretending everything’s fine. That’s when the…
Read More
Meter Running, Mind Wandering
Most people step into my cab and forget I’m there. That’s fine. I’m not here to be remembered. I’m here to get you from point A to point B with the least amount of stress and the most possible green lights. But while you’re checking your texts or arguing on the phone, I’m watching the…
Read More
The Yellow Light Never Lasts
You learn to live in the in-between when you drive a yellow cab in New York. The light turns green, you go. The light turns red, you wait. But the yellow? That’s the moment you live for — that brief, pulsing second between decision and instinct. Go or stop. Risk the ticket or play it…
Read More
Nobody Notices the Driver
In this city, you could vanish in plain sight and no one would even blink. That’s what being a taxi driver feels like most days — invisible. I open the door, you climb in, and for the next 15 blocks I’m just part of the background. A voice that asks, “Cash or card?” A hand…
Read More
The Rearview Mirror Doesn’t Lie
You can tell a lot about a person from how they sit in the back seat. Some slide in, headphones on, eyes glued to their phone — they want silence. Others lean forward the moment the door shuts, already talking like we’re old friends. And then there are the ones who don’t say a word,…
Read More
My Office Has No Walls
My office doesn’t have cubicles or Zoom meetings. It has four wheels, a meter, and a city that never sits still. I’m a taxi driver in New York City — not one of those black cars or ride-share hybrids — just a regular yellow cab, the kind that’s been part of this city longer than…
Read More
A Night Behind the Wheel in NYC
People think being a taxi driver in New York is all about knowing the streets. Sure, that helps — but what it’s really about is knowing people. And trust me, after a decade behind the wheel, you get a front-row seat to human nature in all its raw, unfiltered forms. I usually start my shift…
Read More
Confessions of a New York City Taxi Driver
It’s 4:30 AM. The city that “never sleeps” does, in fact, sleep — but not all of us. My day (or night, depending on how you look at it) starts with a strong coffee from the bodega on 8th. The streets are quieter now. No horns. No chaos. Just the hum of the engine and…
Read More