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Taxi Industry Bids the Bloomberg Era a Not-So-Fond Farewell

When the moment arrived on Thursday to bid farewell to an administration it loathed, New York City’s taxi industry dispensed with any pretense of mixed emotions.

At the final Taxi and Limousine Commission meeting of the Bloomberg era, industry officials chastised the city for failing to listen to them, condemned final rule changes to be voted on by the agency, and alluded to the myriad lawsuits that, quite often, had gone against the city in recent years.

Ethan Gerber, the executive director of the Greater New York Taxi Association, a yellow taxi industry group that has frequently sued the city, offered a pointed send-off to David S. Yassky, the taxi commissioner.

“There are those who spread happiness wherever they go,” he said to Mr. Yassky, paraphrasing a line attributed to Oscar Wilde, “and those who spread happiness whenever they go.”

“Characteristically elegant,” Mr. Yassky said, smiling at least a little.

But the administration did announce a triumph against a frequent rival. Mr. Yassky and Eric T. Schneiderman, the state attorney general, said they had reached an agreement with a prominent taxi operator who will pay nearly $750,000 in restitution to drivers who were charged illegally high rates to lease their cabs and medallions.

The operator, Evgeny Freidman, will also pay $500,000 in fines, according to Mr. Schneiderman’s office, and his companies will be required to appoint an internal compliance officer.

Mr. Yassky called the settlement “a huge development in the taxi industry,” adding that some operators had developed “a sense of impunity” concerning the treatment of drivers.

In a phone interview on Thursday, Mr. Freidman declined to discuss details of the settlement but chafed at Mr. Yassky’s suggestion that he had stolen from drivers.

“I understand, going out they need to have a whole big thing,” he said, adding that he had once been close with Mr. Yassky, raising money for some of his political campaigns. “O.K., go for it. But don’t make it personal on me.”

As WABC first reported on Thursday, three of Mr. Freidman’s taxi businesses also owe a total of more than $3 million in back taxes, according to the state’s Department of Taxation and Finance.

In May, Mr. Freidman sued Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg after a heated exchange at Madison Square Garden. According to the suit, Mr. Bloomberg told Mr. Freidman he would “destroy your industry,” adding an expletive, when his term was up. The case is pending.

Mr. Bloomberg has worked aggressively to reshape the taxi industry, frequently drawing its ire. The administration overcame a court challenge to a plan to expand street-hail service beyond Manhattan, placing thousands of green livery cabs on the streets this year.

More muddled is the fate of the city’s so-called Taxi of Tomorrow plan for a near-uniform fleet of yellow cabs. The city is appealing a State Supreme Court ruling that struck down the plan in October, but Bill de Blasio, the mayor-elect, has in the past opposed the vehicle. Mr. de Blasio has said that he will replace Mr. Yassky.

The vehicle, a Nissan NV200, is available as an option for the industry but will not be required, as the administration had initially intended for most operators, unless the appeal is successful.

On Thursday, the commission also voted, 6 to 1, with 1 abstention, to require that all taxis undergo crash-testing with their plastic partitions inside, after a grace period. When questioned by a fellow commission member, Nora C. Marino, Mr. Yassky said that the Nissan NV200 was believed to be the only taxi that currently met this requirement.

“Isn’t that kind of a coincidence?” Ms. Marino asked.

Opponents have accused the administration of using the rule as a last-ditch attempt to get more Nissans on the road.

For some, though, the administration’s departure was bittersweet. Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, recalled fondly that Mr. Yassky had overseen a fare increase meant to increase drivers’ pay.

After the meeting, she and Mr. Yassky embraced. “You did a fine job,” Ms. Desai told him.

Then a driver stepped in to offer his thanks. “My hat salutes for you,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 29 of the New York edition with the headline: Taxi Industry Bids the Bloomberg Era a Not-So-Fond Farewell. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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