The taxi-men who operate in front of the Novelo's Bus Terminal on West Collett Canal are "bex" with the city's traffic department and have vowed to physically oppose a new directive from traffic's head honcho, Kent Gabb. Gabb has proposed that effective Thursday, three taxi unions should be amalgamated into a single body that will operate from in front of Novelo's. It's nothing but good news for two of the three unions because both of them are languishing at their current locations: one in front of the disused Venus Bus Terminal, and the other at the Pound Yard Bridge. Under the new arrangement, they would join the 30 Novelo's cab operators, front and center at the busiest pickup spot on the South-side. But the move spells disaster for the existing cabbies operating there, and this afternoon, they flatly rejected Gabb's proposal.
Theodore Henry, President Taxi Union
They shouldn't be forcing us to take on more members than we could actually handle on out here, but wi no have wah choice inna this thing, it is the city's decision that we incorporate, none of us know if the input from the bus terminal will be catering for sixty-two, well...sixty taxis.
Brendalee Vacarro, Taxi Driver
Sixty people is impossible. Money is not on the streets like how you think. We have to hustle and from venus, poundyard, and novelo's, you know how much people that? Enough. And I no agree with it at all, at all, at all. Thursday, we no wah accept dem people out ya, because if da thirty a we and wi already have hassle, if sixty come, we wah have fight.< BR>
I gwine go have fi fight fi space out ya. I mean like dis ting a go on for months now and I mean like novelo's should organize and set up weh dem fi set up instead a moving all the taxi's and all the buses to a terminal dat cannot control the crowd and cannot control the vehicles. I mean like so much bus dey right ya, novelo's cannot handle all the buses right here, all the taxis cannot park out here. As you can see it right now, the amount of taxis weh park out here already, they can't hold right now. If dem carry plum tree come here, it going to be a disaster. We deh out ya fi years now. Years go in and years come, we deh right ya. And if other taxi-man come dey going to push us right out. What going to happen to we and our future. Its all about us now and all about our future. Our president will not accept these changes and we will not accept it either. And if we have to put our foot down and if we have to fight, we will, because this is our livelihood and we have to fight for our livelihood. We no gwine mek somebody from out deh come tek it away from us. What's going to happen to our family, because this is not a one man thing, this is all of us out here, and we have over thirty taxis already, I mean, and we can't even find space to park.
Gabb says the Traffic Department is only trying to create an orderly system.