New York City: Cabbies, Better Not Pick Up Ladies In Short Skirts!
It isn't enough to tell adults they can't drink big sodas; in NYC, they've passed a law that will surely make it harder for any woman not dressed like she's got an appointment at the convent to get a cab.
From the WSJ, Evangeline Morphos writes:
Defining who is a prostitute may be "complicated" as Weiner suggests. But the New York City Council seems to have an answer. It has just passed a law that will fine taxi drivers up to $10,000 for picking up a prostitute. Drivers will be required to take a course that will aid them in spotting what a hooker looks like.Mayor Bloomberg, responding to a protest by women, expressed skepticism about the law. "I started to think for a second, if I were a young lady and dressed in a sporty way--or how you'd want to phrase it--and there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe it's not appropriate to go to the workplace, but at night, sometimes sure, why not?"
Other than the rather unsettling visual image--now burned in my brain- of Mayor Bloomberg dressed in a "sporty way," he's right.
Can you really identify someone by how they dress? Journalists, analysts and pundits spent hours analyzing the effect on the jurors of the Hermes bag Martha Stewart carried on the first day of her trial or the significance of the presidential cuff-links Jamie Dimon wore during the first day of his testimony.
But can we really ask taxi drivers to get involved in the semiotics of fashion signifiers?
Michelle Chen writes at InTheseTimes:
Two quintessential cliches of New York City street life are heading into more trouble with the law: yellow cabs and prostitutes. To combat the sex trade, the city is pursuing pimps via taxi. But some civil rights advocates fear the measure targets the wrong kind of traffic.The newly signed legislation aims to punish cab drivers who abet prostitution, with a focus on those who "knowingly engage in a business of transporting individuals to patrons for purposes of prostitution, procuring and/or soliciting patrons for the prostitution, and receiving proceeds from such business in collaboration with traffickers and pimps." The law imposes new criminal penalties, including fines or the loss of a license, for various forms of "promoting prostitution" while using the taxi. It also mandates trainings to inform drivers about the legal consequences of "facilitating sex trafficking" and about social services available to trafficking victims. The evidence of cabbies' involvement in the sex trade is anecdotal at best--there was recently a high-profile trafficking case in which livery cab drivers were nabbed in connection with a "brothel on wheels." But the ubiquity of taxis, popularity of paid sex services, and lack of parking space in the city has apparently led lawmakers to focus on yellow cabs as a critical link in the crusade against trafficking.
The reality of sex work in the city involves far more than dramatic stereotypes of pimps, johns and their drivers. First, advocates for sex workers point out that prostitutes are not necessarily trafficking victims, and that the language of the legislation threatens to blur the line between voluntary prostitution and trafficking, which generally involves coercion and economic exploitation.
Kate D'Adamo, an organizer with Sex Workers Outreach Project New York City (SWOP-NYC) and Sex Workers Action New York (SWANK), said in a correspondence with In These Times that the legislation "inappropriately conflates all prostitution with human trafficking" by focusing on the vaguely defined "promotion of prostitution" by drivers, rather than drawing a clear distinction between coerced and non-coerced commercial sex. "Criminalization of the people around sex workers and trafficked persons alike will do nothing to support trafficked persons," she added, "and will only further marginalize those populations."
As Dave Chappelle once advised, don't wear the "uniform" if you don't want to be confused for the "real deal."
Jay R at July 7, 2012 8:09 AM
Let's see, I now can associate NYC with:
I'm sure I missed some.
Now I get to associate NYC with cabbies profiling women.
Most of the whores I've run into wear jeans, t-shirts and the upper class wear stuff I could see in a business office.
For some reason, you aren't going to see me in NYC anytime soon. But this is what you get with socialism. Please enjoy it.
Jim P. at July 7, 2012 8:19 AM
So does this mean Elliot Spitzer can no longer catch a cab? Probably not.... he doesn't dress like a john, does he?
Eric at July 7, 2012 8:20 AM
Waiting for the NOW led protest, slut walks, etc.
And the first lawsuit, for not picking someone up. Not only are they discriminating against her and leaving her on the treet, but they are also calling her a hooker while doing it.
I think cabbies could do a nice protest by not picking up women lawyers, politicians, lobyists, etc. Sorry but I thought you were a prostitute, I was taking you to the Goldman Sacks building.
Joe J at July 7, 2012 8:24 AM
Another "feel-good" law that has no point other than to raise revenue: just what defense is there to "You were seen picking up or dropping off a woman (or man? tranny?) who may be a prostitute, and you should not do that" for 10grand???
nit-picking -
Oh, and "yellow cabs" or "Yellow Cab?" Actually. in NYCity. I think "hackney" is what is on the license/medallion. Anyhoo, the adjective does not belong - if that is how the law reads, only a very few are affected...
John A at July 7, 2012 8:24 AM
I'm gonna laugh when all of the taxi companies go out of business and the NY elitists who yammer on about mass transit actually have to use it.
Cousin Dave at July 7, 2012 8:27 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/07/07/new_york_city_c.html#comment-3255877">comment from Cousin DaveNew York cab companies will not go out of business, but there might be women in short skirts or transsexuals who are forced to walk home through dangerous neighborhoods or take the subway really late at night because of this.
Amy Alkon at July 7, 2012 8:50 AM
For some reason this story reminds me of the old SNL skit with Dan Akroyd and Margot Kidder; Kidder is in a small town and the Chamber of Commerce sends over Fred Garvin, a male prostitute, to entertain her. It's a very small town, and they can't afford much, and Fred Garvin delivers exactly what they pay for.
At one point he has to ask Margot Kidder for help removing his truss......
roadgeek at July 7, 2012 8:59 AM
The SNL skit:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/3514
one of my favorites!
Eric at July 7, 2012 9:11 AM
Wont take long for a lawsuit, wont really reqire any proof either, as how can you prove a negitive?
Any female assualt or rape victim just needs to say that she was attacked after a cab refused to pick her up and the city is facing a multi million dollar lawsuit
lujlp at July 7, 2012 9:16 AM
Given the number of Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu radical religious conservatives cab drivers I've met, I'd say the chance of any woman getting a cab in New York city is going to fall dramatically if they're given this power.
Some of these guys think bare arms are an expression of wanton harlotry.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at July 7, 2012 9:55 AM
Why don't they just go after the prostitutes themselves? In the case of drug's they go after the dealers and not those who purchase the drugs. But here, they want to go not after those who do the supply(the prostitutes themselves) but after those who do the purchasing. Oh I get it....drug dealers and guys and the purchasers are women. Prostitutes are women and the purchasers are guys. And since in the misandric world of liberals women can do no wrong, it is guys who have to be punished regardless of who does the crime.
Redrajesh at July 7, 2012 10:09 AM
Eric,
Thanks for posting the URL for the SNL skit. It was aas funny as I remember. When my wife, who hails from Chicago, heard the word "Moline", she really started laughing.
roadgeek at July 7, 2012 10:09 AM
TEN GRAND?! Ten thousand dollars for a "I thought she was just a slut, not a hooker" punishment?! That is a ridiculous amount of money!
I'm going to take a guess that this particular charge is going to be leveled mostly for revenue purposes (or revenge purposes against drivers/companies who tick the wrong people off).
cornerdemon at July 7, 2012 11:51 AM
And the first lawsuit, for not picking someone up.
I can't get a cab in Manhattan when I'm going to Brooklyn, even when I don't look like a hooker. Cabbies will just keep driving. Sometimes I can get them to pick me up if I can get in the cab before they ask where I'm going, but most of them have caught on and keep the doors locked until you tell them where you're going. I've mostly given up on cabs. I'll just add this to the list of things they can ignore me over.
MonicaP at July 7, 2012 11:51 AM
How do they think they can enforce something so stupid as this?
Prove the cab driver knew the fare in question was in fact a prostitute.
It occurs to me that they wouldn't be able to pick up politicians either, since they're all prostitutes as well. BOOM!
DrCos at July 7, 2012 12:35 PM
"I think cabbies could do a nice protest by not picking up women lawyers, politicians, lobyists, etc. Sorry but I thought you were a prostitute, I was taking you to the Goldman Sacks building."
Yes. Each time they refuse to pick up a woman, refer to the statute, the huge fine, and say "sorry, just can't take the risk." If the cabbies really did this, the law would be overturned in days.
Anyway, tell me again: why is prostitution illegal? Regulate it, to ensure that the women are really doing it as their own choice - beyond that, it really is none of the government's business.
a_random_guy at July 7, 2012 12:44 PM
Sooooo, let me get this straight.
Not picking up a person because they are of a certain ethnic persuasion is BAD.
Not picking up a person because you *think* they look like a HOOKER is A-OK.
True story. I used to work in Downtown Pittsburgh, right around the corner from the venerable Edison Hotel. It had a strip club on the first floor, and rent-by-the-hour rooms. I'd see a lot of hookers working the early shift because of the construction workers. They usually wore jeans, or even sweat pants, in the winter.
So, one Saturday night, when my eldest was in college, while she was living with her Paternal unit Grandfather for the semester because he was just up the street from her school, I get a panicky phone call from said PUG. He starts babbling about how its 10pm, and No 1 daughter is just now getting ready to go out with her friends, and HORROR of HORRORS, She's dressed like a PROSTITUTE!
I took a deeeeep breath, resisted the urge to scream, and calmly explained to him that Yes, it is 10 pm, that's when all her friends who work as waitresses get off work and can get together. And No, she's not dressed like a prostitute, that they didn't look like they do in movies. She's dressed like a 20 yr old going dancing, and since she *was* 20, I had lost that argument 2 years before and didn't want to pick that fight again. I had paid for the aikido lessons, and the pepper spray, and the 20 eye Doc Martins to make sure she was as safe as possible while being a 20-something cutie going dancing. And that is pretty much the best a parent can do, yes?
Kat at July 7, 2012 12:48 PM
One characteristic of totalitarian governments is that they strive to turn ordinary people into their enforcers.
david foster at July 7, 2012 1:34 PM
So I guess a bang van would be right out, then.
Steve Daniels at July 7, 2012 1:37 PM
but there might be women in short skirts or transsexuals who are forced to walk home through dangerous neighborhoods or take the subway really late at night because of this
May I suggest an oilskin duster? Hey, you can even get it thru Amy's Amazon storefront...you never know when the weather is going to turn to crap, or you have to hail a taxi.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 7, 2012 2:41 PM
I actually own one of those. In the past, I had to stand outside for 15 minutes in -5F and a 10MPH wind using a mini-compressor to fill the tire on a vehicle. The only part of me that was cold was the exposed skin on my face and ears.
But of course if a hooker wore that you'd have problems telling whether she was a man or a woman, let alone her hotness. ;-)
Jim P. at July 7, 2012 3:30 PM
Just legalize it for unmarried people, already. Just like the war on drugs, the war on hookers will simply end up hurting more people than it helps.
Bloomberg is a nanny-state nutcase who should not even be a middle school hall monitor.
mpetrie98 at July 8, 2012 10:26 AM
Well, damn!
How are all the sluts supposed to get to the Slut Walk? Take the subway, I guess...
Jay R at July 8, 2012 1:09 PM
I dress pretty slutty when I go clubbing.
Isn't cabbies picking up hookers a good thing? Kinda protects the hookers you know. There aren't enough things protecting hookers, all that'd be fixed with the legalization of hookering.
And BTW Amy I love NYC trannies. I haven't been to a tranny party in ages, but damn those girls know how to beat a face.
(Beat=drag queen term for a damn goodlooking made out face)
Purplepen at July 9, 2012 1:20 AM
My girl friend likes this law.
I pay her $2 for sex one night. She is now (legally a prostitute.
She goes out dressed conservative.
Cabbie picks her up.
"I want $5,000 or I report you"
THIS could be profitable.
David Smith at July 9, 2012 9:50 AM
So sad I can't see the SNL clip w/o subscribing to Hulu... I loved that skit... "I'm Fred Gaaarvin, Male Prass-ti-toot."
Mr. Teflon at July 9, 2012 8:46 PM
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