Taxi Drivers Calling for Debt Relief Handcuffed by Police Outside City Hall

Protesters and taxi drivers who blocked a street outside New York City Hall on Monday, October 25, were handcuffed by police, footage shows.

According to local reports, taxi drivers facing economic ruin due to the pandemic and the debt acquired to buy medallions – the permits that allow drivers to own taxis – at inflated costs have been protesting outside City Hall for weeks.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance said on October 19 that some drivers and their supporters had gone on hunger strike to campaign for “real medallion debt relief”, something they say the city’s government has failed to deliver.

This footage by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance shows protesters being handcuffed by police and led into a police van. According to reports, local politicians at the protest were also detained. Credit: NY Taxi Workers Alliance via Storyful