The Taxi Debt Crisis

In the past year, many New York City taxi drivers have fallen deeper into debt, even as the city moved to rein in ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft. Our colleague explains how the rush to blame those apps shielded those who were really behind the crisis. Guests: Brian M. Rosenthal, an investigative reporter on the Metro desk of The New York Times, and Nicolae Hent, a taxi driver in New York City.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• A spate of suicides by taxi drivers in New York City over the past year has highlighted in brutal terms the financial plight of those with ownership permits. Officials blamed the crisis on competition from ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft.
• But thousands of immigrants who were chasing the dream of owning a New York taxi were trapped in reckless loans by bankers who made huge profits, The Times found. Despite years of warning signs, government agencies did little to stop it.

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