Make Our Day The New York Sun

With more than 10,000 New York City taxi drivers threatening to go on strike on September 5 and 6, the words that come to mind are "make our day." It could finally be the opportunity the city has been waiting for to end the taxi medallion monopoly once and for all. The drivers threatening to strike, upset over a plan to install Global Positioning System monitors in the cabs, aren't even technically a labor union at all, because the drivers are independent contractors. All the more reason to break the monopoly on street hails that the laws of the city of New York have granted to medallion owners.

If the 10,000 taxi drivers don't want to work next Wednesday and Thursday, plenty of other drivers are available to pick up the slack. Livery cabs could be authorized to accept street hails, as they were during the August 8 rainstorm that flooded the subway system to a halt. Out of city and out of state cabs could be welcomed to the city to accept fares. Enterprising New Yorkers with automobiles of their own could be allowed to put signs on their car roofs and accept passengers. Would-be taxi riders who are able to walk might be encouraged to do so; it's fine exercise.

The taxi monopoly and the drivers will warn that this would produce "chaos." But that's a fine description of the

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