LANY Urges Operators to Tackle Industry Issues

Long Island City, N.Y. — The Limousine Association of New York (LANY) will host a general-membership meeting Tuesday, September 19, at Farrell Limousine. It will be open to all luxury ground transportation operators in the New York City metro area—including those who aren’t association members.

After surviving a crushing recession that lasted almost a decade and dealing with TNCs’ disruption, the LANY meeting will tackle a number of pressing issues affecting the industry’s survival.

“I don’t want to be an alarmist, but our industry is in crisis,” said LANY President Jeff Rose of Attitude New York. “The regulatory process has become so politicized with decisions and new regulations coming more and more from the New York City Council, the mayor’s office, and Albany, not to mention the federal government. For decades, a small group of members has fought for our industry segment; now, we must be able to demonstrate that we speak for thousands of hard-working men and women. LANY is the best way to do this, and we all need the association to be as strong as possible.”

On top of the sales tax, paid sick leave, data collection, fatigue rules, enhanced chauffeur license requirements, and so much more, the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) has proposed a new regulation that would require all for-hire vehicle (FHV) bases to dispatch 25 percent of all jobs into wheelchair accessible vehicles.

This proposed new rule threatens the very existence of the industry, and has a powerful group of advocates supporting it. It is critical to prove that there are better solutions to providing WAV service in the NYC market: The industry must demonstrate strong numbers in terms of jobs provided and other contributions to economic activity, as well as our importance to the city's transportation system.

Working alongside other industry associations, such as The Black Car Assistance Corp. and the Limousine, Bus, Taxi Operators of Upstate New York, LANY has made headway on a number of issues. They include convincing the TLC to amend its original fatigue-rules proposal, allowing one-touch two-way radios, and getting the port authority to put aside proposed airport usage fees that would have cost bases tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in compliance efforts.

To RSVP for the meeting, send an email to Thelany.info@gmail.com.

Visit thelany.com/LANYrecruitingLetter.pdf for more information about LANY.

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