This weekend marks six months since I started driving a yellow cab in New York City. I may still be a rookie, but I know one thing: I never would have survived any of my shifts without at least one instance of light. into the driver's seat
From the Driver’s Seat: Bits of Light
This weekend marks six months since I started driving a yellow cab in New York City. I may still be a rookie, but I know one thing: I never would have survived any of my shifts without at least one instance of light. From the Driver’s Seat: NYT Restaurant Reviews Unmasked (Plus Falafel)
"We had Sam Sifton's picture pasted all over the restaurant," my passenger said, "I recognized him right away. He came four times. I knew it was him every time." From the Driver’s Seat: Lady Power & Korean Fast Food
It may have only lasted 20 seconds, but the rendezvous with the lady taxi driver on E.16th St and Union Square West on Sunday was enough to make me feel as if I actually belonged among the ranks of New York cabbies.
We were both stuck in the traffic jam caused by road construction on...Read more »
From the Driver’s Seat: Rushed Grandmas and Dogmatic Sausage
I never suspected that the two little old Italian ladies I picked up last week could raise my blood pressure more than a banker headed for Wall Street. After dropping off the nonne, I turned on my off-duty light, sifted through food recommendations from my passengers and ended up face to face with lamb...Read more »
From the Driver’s Seat: Happy Passengers and Ice Cream
I could've picked up more fares after Alice, but I didn't want to. I wanted to end the shift on a high note, the way I used to leave the milongas in Buenos Aires after a beautiful tango, the way I like to save the best thing on my plate for last...before ice cream. From the Driver’s Seat: April Fool (with Tamales)
The sun was out as I cruised down 2nd Avenue, and that's when I spotted two ladies pulling chicken tamales from a steamer on the corner of E. 97th St. Their steam warmed my face as I unfolded the banana leaves. I wanted them to be amazing. I wanted them to make up for...Read more »
From the Driver’s Seat: Bella’s Trip to Chinatown
It was far and away the most hellish drive of the shift. It began in the post-circus crowd that was pouring out of Madison Square Garden and culminated in an impossible bottleneck at the Holland Tunnel entrance. I'll never know if my passengers made it to the dim sum I wanted them to try... From the Driver’s Seat: The Sandwich I Should’ve Never Refused
When I finally do taste the pastrami at Katz's, I know I won't be thinking of Harry and Sally - I'll be remembering the odd couple I took to La Guardia, who are living out their own 17 years and counting, stranger than fiction love story. NY Cabbie-Recommended Restaurants: More Spots Worth Tasting
Even when I cross the Brooklyn Bridge by mistake, bump into the NYPD or get lost at the airport, my next meal is usually on my mind. Slowly but cheaply, I'm eating my way through NYC while I'm on duty, and I've found a few more places that deserve a spot on the map.
From the Driver’s Seat: The Safari Becomes a Zoo, with Haitian Food
There are times when driving a cab feels a lot like being on an urban safari, where I play the part of a caffeinated hunter on a desperate search for passengers. When I pulled into the taxi holding lot at Kennedy airport yesterday, I felt like I’d left the safari and entered a zoo. 
