Cab Wars On The UES

Yesterday afternoon I got in the middle of a fight between two cabbies arguing over who had the right to pick me up. I'd stuck my hand up on 2nd Avenue and both cabs jerked over to get me, one of them from the middle lane, one from the curb lane. The middle-lane guy accelerated to pass the curb-lane guy, reaching me first. I got in. The cut-off cabbie was not having it. He whipped around us and blocked my driver from pulling out, as they screamed at each other in Khazakstani. I sat there for a moment, debating, but when my driver got out to pummel the other driver's windows with his fists, I bailed for cabbie #3, who was watching the scene with great amusement. As we pulled away, my previous driver was vigorously kicking the door of his opponent. New York City, baby.