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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of New York Taxi Workers Alliance, on Medallion Relief Program
4:57:58
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4 min
Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, testified about the Medallion Relief Program and the need to extend it for approximately 200 remaining loans. She emphasized the program's success in achieving $475 million in debt forgiveness and urged the city to keep the program open until all loans are restructured.
- The alliance has been working to bring new lenders to offer cash settlements and restructure loans under the city's program.
- Desai highlighted the critical nature of these remaining loans, each representing struggling families.
- She requested advocacy to keep the program open, stressing that no one should be left behind when they are so close to resolving all cases.
Bhairavi Desai
4:57:58
Good afternoon.
4:57:59
My name is Beta Vita Sai.
4:58:01
I'm the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
4:58:04
It's an honor to follow my sister Dorothy Leconte who has served the City Of New York for over thirty eight years as a yellow cab driver.
4:58:13
And as Dorothy and as many of our members spoke earlier, the debt that they have been under is crushing.
4:58:22
This city found a solution after forty five day occupation of City Hall and including a fifteen day hunger strike.
4:58:31
The city agreed to be the guarantor on these loans through a program called the Medallion Relief Program.
4:58:39
Many lenders have already participated with a groundbreaking $475,000,000 in forgiveness.
4:58:48
However, we estimate that there are about 200 loans that remain.
4:58:54
That's it.
4:58:55
We're just talking about, you know, maybe 200, two hundred 15 loans that remain.
4:59:01
But for each of these loans, they represent families that have truly in a crisis struggle because the debts that they are paying off are just crushing.
4:59:15
Their existing lenders, for the majority of them, did not want to enter into the program.
4:59:21
So, our union, the Taxi Workers Alliance, we've been working over the last three years to bring new lenders into the industry that would offer to loan the owner drivers enough money to make a cash settlement with their current lender and then the new loan would be put into the city's medallion relief program.
4:59:43
However, the TLC has testified that the program came to an end in December which means that these loans would not be eligible for a $30,000 grant or the city backed guarantee and without these two programs, we will not be able to get these loans restructured.
5:00:06
Nobody should be left behind.
5:00:09
200 loans, we are so close to the finish line.
5:00:14
Why would we not cross this finish line for every single family?
5:00:19
They all deserve this.
5:00:21
Please advocate with the city that this program must remain open until every final loan, you know, is restructured under under the medallion relief program.
5:01:06
So it's it's real first it's up to their their current lender.
5:01:11
So, whether or not the lender is agreeable to restructure the
5:01:17
But the drivers want to participate and so because some of these lenders refuse to participate, they have, however, been willing to make cash settlements.
5:01:30
So, if you give them $200,000 they will forgive the rest of the debt.
5:01:36
And so, our union's been trying to raise So, the city will give 30,000 from this program.
5:01:43
We've been working with banks to raise the remaining 170,000 so we can offer that to these lenders and then be done with that debt.
5:01:52
And, we're really close to the finish line.
5:01:56
You know, Chairman Do had given us, really up until December of last year, we were not able to raise all the funds that we need, but we continue to work on it.
5:02:09
And frankly speaking, we've been doing that work all on our own without the support of anybody at the city.
5:02:16
And so all we're asking for from the city is a little bit more time for us to, you know, cross the finish line.
5:02:29
Wonderful.
5:02:30
Thank you.
5:02:30
Thank you.
Justin Brannan
5:00:34
Thank you.
5:00:34
Chair Brooks Powers.
Selvena Brooks-Powers
5:00:36
Thank you all for the testimony and just a follow-up question just to understand the remaining 200 loans.
5:00:42
Mhmm.
5:00:43
Do we know that those existing ones are as a result of the program ending or if those potential applicate applicants did not apply and may not want to apply because as you know in some of the hearings we've accessed and we're trying to get a clearer picture as to because I know some of the drivers have chosen not to apply, so I just wanted clarity on that.
5:01:14
Right,
5:01:15
them are not participants.
5:01:16
Right.
5:01:17
Right.
5:02:23
Thank you for that.
5:02:24
And let's connect offline to see how we can be able to be more supportive in that area.
Ydanis Rodriguez
5:01:15
some of