Yassky is a good bet to succeed Matthew Daus as Commissioner of the TLC

Back in 2003, David Yassky took up the campaign to green up the New City Taxi fleet. He proposed presenting legislation that would require a certain percentage of the NYC taxi fleet to use hybrid vehicles by a certain date and for that number to increase over time until the entire fleet had been upgraded to all hybrid vehicles. Needless to say, perseverance and determination (and Bloomberg’s endorsement of the plan) were instrumental in finalizing the legislation and implementation of this project. It is worth mentioning Jack Hidary and his instrumental participation in helping Yassky to lobby against archaic laws that stood in the way of presenting legislation that would ultimately force the TLC to accept the amendments to their modus operandi.

Yassky has also been side by side with Mayor Bloomberg from day one on a number of issues, including his decision to support a rewriting of term limits , which paved the way for Bloomberg’s third term. So it is not hard to believe that the Mayor would have a personal interest in appointing Yassky to the position of Commissioner for the TLC as recognition for Yassky’s loyalty to his political positions.

After electing not to defend his council seat, which would open up what became a crowded 2009 race for the city council seat in the 33rd district, a district in which a relatively unknown, Stephen Levin, would win in commanding fashion, Yassky went after the Comptroller seat. He lost that race pretty handily to John Liu, the former chairman of the Transportation Committee. All of which sets the stage for Yassky to become the next commissioner of the TLC; It is a position for which he is well qualified to lead, he has a track record of working in concert with the goals of the Mayor as well as for issues that seem to line up quite nicely with Bloomberg’s greater vision for the future of New York City, see plaNYC 2030 as a great example of this vision, and it is a high profile position in which he can be seen getting things done that directly impact New Yorkers. Generally, the commissioner position is held by aspirational people who are seeking a high profile place to park themselves for a relatively short stay, while readying themselves for bigger and better things.

This changing of the guard is a great opportunity for Cabcorner to offer its services to the TLC at a time when action will have to be taken, if only to demonstrate a show of creativity and effectiveness on the part of the new commissioner. About a year ago, we approached Yassky’s office (when he we still a member of the City Council)  with a proposal to build a cab sharing system for the city, but little was to be done at the time. Well, here goes round two. It is no accident we approached Yassky with our project in the first place, he is/ was the perfect politician to head up a campaign that would seek to take advantage of our platform and it is through prescient foresight that the city as well as Cabcorner will be granted a second chance to help bring change to the taxi cab industry. Of course, this is all contingent on David Yassky being appointed to the position by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but if I were a betting man, my money would be on Yassky.