Washington, DC – Cab driver Abraham Habteab says around 2 p.m., he picked up a well-dressed passenger at Union Station who wanted to ride to a hotel in Southwest D.C.
“He wanted me to drop him off and put his luggage inside the hotel and he wanted me to take him to a different location,” said Habteab.
He did not realize his passenger was Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York until other cab drivers told him. It was just a typical cab ride according to Habteab.
But then he says Congressman Nadler told him, “Don’t turn the meter off. He wanted me to take him back to Capitol Hill.”
According to the D.C. Taxicab Commission, the law says when a passenger gets to their destination, in this case which was the hotel, the entire fare is paid including waiting time.
The law also says if the passenger asks the driver to wait or take him to another destination, that is a new trip and the meter starts again.
The congressman was supposed to pay $8.
“He said I will not pay you if you don’t take me running the same meter which we came with,” said Habteab.
Habteab says he called police after Congressman Nadler would not pay.
“He said I’m not going to wait for the police and he caught another cab and left,” said Habteab.
Congressman Nadler’s office responded by saying, “This whole situation was just a misunderstanding and we are working now to resolve it. Everyone will be happy at the end of the day.”
“Not paying me and running to take another cab is unacceptable,” said Habteab. “Who is going to follow the law if the congressman does not follow the law?
(Source: Fox DC)
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10 Responses
Jerold Nadler was on of the Congressmen who signed onto a letter condemning Rubashkin before he was able to defend himself at trial. Go after him Mr. Cab driver!
Nadler has always been a big mouth arrogant liberal.
Liberals elitists believe they are superior “Ubermentschen,” who do not have to follow the rules which they legislate for the rest of us.
Who cares whether or not this happened and why do we need to increase sinas chinum and rechilus during the 9 days?
Dear frumimom (no. 3)
You are a good example of someone who is too frum, inappropriately.
It is a mitzvah to expose Reshoim, like this bloated cretin, Nadler. He represents Greenwich Village, and supports every kind of indecency and Sodomite immorality in our society.
To paraphrase King David, in Tehilim: “Those who hate you< HaShem, I hate–I will fight them vigorously!"
the congressman did the right thing according to the paper that looked into it:
http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/5093-taxi-driver-nadler-skipped-out-on-his-fare
deepthinker – Aren’t you being just a tad extreme? I am a liberal – and so was my father – only he had to flee from a country who thought they were populated by racially superior ubermentschen. Tone it down –
A general comment:
I am a PIT mentor – and I never share YWN with any of the people with whom I learn. The vituperative expressions of hatred expressed against those who have differing poitical opinions is just too embarrassing.
#6 You really do sound like one of those leftist librals, who wanna ruin this country. This story is terrible, and just shows you how sick this country and its poloticians are.
Before everyone attacks Rep. Nadler it may not be a bad idea to read this
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2010/07/TaxiRuleQuery102209.pdf
Whether he should have paid what he felt was the appropriate fare before leaving is not the discussion here. He was following the rules, not the cabbie, at least according to the letter linked above. Regarding such a stupid story setting off fireworks among YWN readers, I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.
#7,
I am VERY PROUD to be a LIBERAL adn a frum Yid. I also agree with YonasonW. I too am a mentor with PIT and I would never even mention this web site to my partner. He is just on the edge of soing tshuva and reading some of the hateful and purely racist comments posted here would, I’m afraid, cause another Jewish soul to be lost forever.
There are bad apples no matter where you go, that is the first thing I want to say. But as far as who is wrong and who is right in this case it all depends who wants to interpret the law. It is a crime punishable by law if you don’t pay for the service that has been provided to you even if you are not happy with the service. The fact is that by law Mr. Nadler had to pay the cab driver even if he was right about interpreting the law. He should have paid, gotten a receipt and all the information about the driver and then file a report with the D.C. Taxicab Commission and prove that he was right and the driver was wrong.
If you really want to know who is at fault here you don’t have to dig deep, it is mayor Fenty, the city council and the D.C. Taxicab commissioners who should be blamed not only for licensing so many unqualified drivers but also for writing such a ambiguous laws that even a congressman cannot interpret, and by giving the DC cab drivers the lowest rate and to top it all off by putting a $19 cap on the fares, and creating a hostile environment for all parties involved. The drivers are unhappy because they are working harder and longer and are unable to take enough money home and the passengers are getting in a lot cabs where the drivers are either tired, sleepy and grouchy or unprofessional, unqualified and don’t know where they are going. Now tell me who we should blame?
You do not have most of these problems in other cities. If there wasn’t a $19 cap on the meter you wouldn’t have this situation where a congressman would have to carry the interpretation of D.C. Taxicab Regulations in his back packet. It is ironic that in 2009, Mr. Nadler had asked Mr. Swain the chairman of D.C. Taxicab Commission the same question that Mr. Habteab asked him in a public hearing on January 13, 2010, but they both got a totally different answer and both of them were carrying the answers they got from Mr. Swain. We owe all of this to our wonderful lawmakers in our great city of Washington D.C. These people should be role models to other lawmakers in the world about how to run a city.