Nearly a month after the State Legislature passed a bill drastically expanding access to taxi service in New York City, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has yet to signal whether he will sign the measure — providing hope to the city’s larger taxi fleet operators who oppose it.

The fleet owners have stepped up efforts to persuade the governor to veto the legislation, arguing that the measure could jeopardize one of the city’s most vital industries.

David Pollack, executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, a group that handles leasing operations for yellow medallions, said taxi drivers continue to send letters and call the governor’s office to oppose a plan that “would devastate 50,000 hard-working taxi drivers by flooding the market with new taxis.”

Michael Woloz, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, echoed Mr. Pollack’s fears, adding that these cars would limit yellow taxi service.

“We are currently educating the governor’s office on the many policy, economic, procedural, legal, operational and logistical problems with this bill,” Mr. Woloz said.

The bill would allow the issuance of up to 30,000 permits, for $1,500 apiece, for a new type of livery cab. These cabs, while painted a different color, would have many of the features of yellow taxis, like meters, rate cards and credit card machines. But they would be restricted to picking up street hails in often under-served parts of Manhattan and in the city’s other four boroughs except for airports.

The bill has not yet been submitted to the governor; the Legislature plans to first pass an amendment that would require these new types of taxis, like yellow cabs, to impose a 50-cent surcharge per fare for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The legislation was pushed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose aides said he was aware that the bill still faced opposition.

Micah C. Lasher, Mr. Bloomberg’s chief lobbyist in Albany, said the mayor would continue to talk with the governor about how “this represents important and very positive public policy for the residents of New York City.”

At the same time, Mr. Lasher said, “we plan to be responsive to the concerns of medallion owners in implementing the plan.”

Mr. Cuomo remains quiet on his plans. At a news conference last week, he noted that he had not received the bill. “When we get it, we’ll review it,” he said.

Mr. Cuomo’s father, the former governor Mario M. Cuomo, serves on the board of Medallion Financial, which has a major stake in many of the city’s taxis and has opposed the bill. Medallion also has been a generous donor to Andrew Cuomo’s campaigns. Josh Vlasto, a spokesman for the governor, said previously that these relationships had “no bearing on the governor’s decision.”

Though the legislation is not scheduled to become valid until at least Jan. 15, David S. Yassky, chairman of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, said New Yorkers had already indicated that they were pleased with the prospect of better access to taxi service.

(Source: NY Times)