The city’s traffic operates as close to a truly Darwinian mode as any other place in the northern hemisphere: all bets are off, the laws are ignored, you take what you can get, and you’d be better be able to give as good as you get. It’s rough out there.
Qat
Where I hailed him: Lower East Side
Where he hails from: Pakistan
Years as a cabbie: 5
Previous profession: Business owner
You want to stay away from 42nd around Times Square, 34th around Macy’s — you have so many pedestrians around there. This is a very dangerous part right here [our intrepid correspondent and his driver are currently traversing the stretch of BQE from the Williamsburg Bridge to the McGuinness Blvd exit]. You have to get over from one side of the highway to the other very quickly — four lanes of traffic — it’s very difficult to do sometimes when it’s busy — this isn’t an intersection technically, but it’s a bad spot.
Emmanuel
Where I hailed him: Midtown East
Where he hails from: Ghana
Years as a cabbie: 3
Previous profession: Limo driver
42nd and Eighth, 42nd and Seventh — actually, just write down every intersection around Times Square. That’ll make your job easier. Those are all bad. Then you come to 34th and Seventh, 34th and Eighth, 34th and Sixth around Macy’s with all the pedestrians. Just stay off 34th. In the outer boroughs, 161st and Grand Concourse is really bad, too, and Grand Concourse and Fordham.
Philip
Where I hailed him: Greenpoint
Where he hails from: Haiti
Years as a cabbie: 5
Previous profession: Waiter
One of the worst is the Queensboro Bridge — the Queens side. That intersection is a mess. You have so many different roads meeting there, going in and out, underneath the bridge, and people trying to turn, cutting you off. I always try to avoid going through there around rush hour.
Ang
Where I hailed him: Gramercy
Where he hails from: Bhutan
Years as a cabbie: 2
Previous profession: Clerk
It depends on the time. At this time you don’t want to be near the Holland Tunnel — Seventh Avenue South — it’s jam-packed. Or 42nd Street — that’s always bad but right now just to cover four blocks it can take you 45 minutes. You have bad places in the outer boroughs too — definitely. If you’re going to the airport you want to stay off the Van Wyc