THE ISSUE: The 1,745-plus citations issued to pedicab operators by the city this year.
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How disappointing that you have joined the City Council in making life miserable for pedicabs ("Target: Pedicabs," Editorial, Nov. 23).
Pedicabs are a nonpolluting form of public transportation, powered by people, not fossil fuels, and they represent a free-market service with no government subsidy.
The excuse that pedicabs contribute to congestion and threaten the health of New Yorkers is absurd.
Several hundred pedicabs are outnumbered by tens of thousands of other vehicles that take up far more space, create more pollution and are involved in more pedestrian accidents and deaths.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
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The issuance of NYC pedicab driver's licenses solely to candidates possessing valid quad-state driver's licenses remains at the very top of the priority list of the New York City Pedicab Owners' Association.
Our concern is with illegal activity by J-1 visa holders. The best way to shut off the flow in this massive, illegal pipeline is to require a higher standard of licensing for pedicab practitioners -- the same standard as for every other passenger-toting industry (save horse-carriages) in New York City.
The NYCPOA is pro-competition -- but it's also pro-standards. Without appropriate standards, responsible industry participants will continue to drown in a sea of unsafe, reckless and illegal service providers who ultimately set the tone for the NYC pedicab experience, now with the city's blessing, no less.
Gregg Zukowski
President
NYCPOA
Manhattanqtdz
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