NYC: Pedicab owners sue city over ownership rules.
Article taken from :
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny–pedicablawsuit0919sep19,0,7753014.story
Pedicab owners sue city over ownership rules
9:07 PM EDT, September 19, 2007NEW YORK - Pedicab owners sued the city and one of its agencies Wednesday, complaining that new rules will let pedal-come-lately types destroy their businesses.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, claims the Department of Consumer Affairs was unlawfully distributing pedicab licenses to applicants who don’t even own pedicabs, a practice they want stopped.
A pedicab is defined as a bicycle, powered by human legs, which has a seating attachment to carry passengers, according to the suit.
The department’s actions violate a law passed April 23 that regulate the industry, according to the lawsuit. The law, which was scheduled to go into effect Thursday, gives licensing preference to existing pedicab owners over would-be operators to lessen the economic harm after the law capped the number of pedicab licenses at 325, court papers say.
Chad Marlow, lawyer for the petitioners, said that between 500 and 600 pedicabs were on the streets before the law was passed. The limited number of licenses will drive several owners and drivers out of business, he said.
And more economic harm will come if consumer affairs continues to issue unlawful licenses, Marlow said. “There’s going to be mass unemployment of drivers,” he said.
The petitioners include the New York City Pedicab Owners’ Association, Inc., which has 15 corporate and individual members, who own a total of about 180 pedicabs and who rent pedicabs to some 400 drivers annually.
Other petitioners are New York Pedicabs Inc., doing business as Manhattan Rickshaw Co., the city’s oldest pedicab business; Mr. Rickshaw LLC, the city’s largest pedicab fleet; and Shoshannah Pearlman, who owns a single pedicab.
Kate Ahlers, spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department, issued a statement saying consumer affairs new rules “effectively and lawfully” carry out the City Council mandate in distributing the 325 pedicab permits to current owners and operators.
“The plaintiff’s legal challenges to that method of distribution are completely without merit,” the statement said, adding that the city has agreed to delay implementation for an unspecified amount of time.
Pedicabs first appeared on New York City streets around 1995, according to the petitioners.
