Hailed in its first edition as a classic study of New York City\'s History and people, Graham Russell Gao Hodges\'s Taxi is a remarkable evocation of the forgotten History of the taxi driver.
He is the author or editor of seventeen books, including Black New Jersey: 1664 to the Present Day and Anna May Wong: From Laundryman\'s Daughter to Hollywood Legend..
Professor of History and Africana Studies at Colgate University.
About the Author Graham Russell Gao Hodges, who drove a New York City cab for five years in the 1970s, is the George Dorland Langdon Jr.
Whether or not you\'ve ever hailed a cab on Broadway, Taxi provides a fascinating perspective on New York\'s most colorful emissaries.
He calls for a return to the careful regulations that governed taxicabs for decades and provided a modest yet secure living for cabbies.
Sharply criticizing the use of the independent contractor model that is the cornerstone of Uber and the gig economy, Hodges argues that the explosion of for-hire vehicles in Manhattan reversed decades of environmental anti-congestion efforts.
A new preface recalls the author\'s five years of hacking in New York City in the early 1970s, and a new concluding chapter explores the rise of app-based ridesharing services with the arrival of companies like Uber and Lyft.
From labor unrest and racial strife to ruthless competition and political machinations, Hodges recounts this History through contemporary news accounts, Hollywood films, and the words of the cabbies themselves.
This deftly woven narrative captures the spirit of New York City cabdrivers and their hardscrabble struggle to capture a piece of the American dream.
Hailed in its first edition as a classic study of New York City\'s History and people, Graham Russell Gao Hodges\'s Taxi is a remarkable evocation of the forgotten History of the taxi driver
