By Sarah Grothjan 7/02/12 4:26pm

New York State of Direction

He knows where he's going. Do you? (PeterJBellis, flickr)

Lost in New York? Don’t ask a New Yorker

Aside from their adherence to sidewalk etiquette and an affinity for one-handing pizza, when they put their feet to the street New Yorkers may not differ as much from their touristy brethren as they thought they did.

A New York Post survey of 100 New Yorkers showed that an overwhelming number don’t know where basic Big Apple landmarks are, making them little better than the confused Times Square tourists trying to navigate the city.

Apparently, only 32 percent of New York residents know where the Guggenheim is and only 21 percent can name the location of The Algonquin, the New York Post reports. Read More

By Susan Chin and Paul Herzan 4/16/12 12:00pm

Cabbing Fever

Design makes this possible. (Getty)

The Taxi of Tomorrow Is Great, But New York Needs More Design Thinking

The following is an op-ed by Susan Chin, executive director for the Design Trust for Public Space, and Paul Herzan, chair of the board of the Cooper-Hewitt. The trust hosted an exhibition at the museum that helped bring the city its new New York-only taxis.

The considerable buzz around the unveiling of the Taxi of Tomorrow prototype at the 2012 New York International Auto Show reflects not only the ownership that the people of New York City feel for “their car,” but also demonstrates a passionate concern many New Yorkers have for the design of their city and public space.  What makes the Taxi of Tomorrow so significant for New York as its first purpose-built cab is the many improvements for passenger and driver, achieved through an unlikely partnership between the taxi community and the design community—made possible by the Design Trust for Public Space and Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum joining forces with NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission and Nissan.

The daunting halo of complexity (“it will never happen”) of the Taxi of Tomorrow project demonstrates the power of design in our city to drive change. Read More

By Stephen Duffy 11/01/11 6:30pm

Transit

All aboard.

Taxi of Tomorrow Preview in Flatiron

This week, the Taxi of Tomorrow—well the taxi of 2013 to 2023, that is (the duration of the lease)—was unveiled to New Yorkers for the very first time. Thoughts from the first users of the fully fitted mock-up installation, which is on display in Madison Square Park until Sunday, were mixed. Despite the years of research and design, you can be sure that any flaw will be brought to light by the critical eye of your average New Yorker. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 9/14/07 7:26pm

Dear’s Taxi Money

Buried deep inside Tom Robbins' article this week on the taxi strike was this interesting line about Noach Dear, a commissioner on the Taxi and Limousine Commission who is reluctant to discuss publicly his race for civil court judge:

“When the Voice recently tried to ask TLC chairman Matthew Daus what he Read More

By Jennifer Belle 3/27/06 12:00am

Britney’s Got Nothing On Me! The Great Car-Seat Controversy

When the time came to take my newborn son home from New York–Presbyterian Hospital, I carried him in my arms, down in the elevator, through the long corridors and finally out into the world. “New baby!” people exclaimed, watching us. “Congratulations!” total strangers said.

My husband hailed a cab, and I got into the back Read More

By Jennifer Belle 3/27/06 12:00am

Britney’s Got Nothing On Me! The Great Car-Seat Controversy

When the time came to take my newborn son home from New York–Presbyterian Hospital, I carried him in my arms, down in the elevator, through the long corridors and finally out into the world. “New baby!” people exclaimed, watching us. “Congratulations!” total strangers said.

My husband hailed a cab, and I got into the Read More

By Terry Golway 5/04/98 12:00am

What Cabbies Know Is That They Can’t Win

You may have heard, no doubt to your horror, that a midlevel employee of the Taxi and Limousine Commission is suspected of accepting gifts of cash money in exchange for providing answers to the questions posed in the city’s rigorous exam for would-be taxi drivers. This news created something of a stir, inspiring fear that Read More