§ 290-2. Licenses required; limitation on licenses issued.

A. 

No person shall own or operate a taxicab, for use as such, in the City without first obtaining a taxicab medallion from the Police Commissioner. The number of taxicab medallions that may be issued under the provisions of this chapter is limited to 175. This provision shall not apply to persons operating omnibuses as common carriers issued under and pursuant to a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the Public Service Commission of the State of New York.

B. 

No person shall drive a taxicab without first obtaining a taxicab operator's license from the Police Commissioner. Each applicant for an operator's license must be licensed as a chauffeur (Class A, B, C or E) by the State of New York and be 18 years of age or over.

C. 

Anything to the contrary herein notwithstanding, the limitation of 175 taxicab licenses to be issued under Subsection A above shall be deemed to include reserved taxicab license applications which have been filed and fees thereon paid and for which the Police Commissioner is hereby authorized to reserve taxicab license numbers for a period of 90 days.

D. 

In the event that a taxicab license is available within the limitation of 175 licenses provided in Subsection C above, the Police Commissioner, upon payment of a nonrefundable fee as set forth in Chapter 133, Fees, may reserve for a period of 90 days a taxicab license for an applicant covering a new car, provided that the applicant furnished a copy of a bill of sale and serial number for such taxicab. Where an applicant has purchased a secondhand motor vehicle to be converted into a taxicab and has furnished proof thereof to the Police Commissioner by documents or by affidavit, the Police Commissioner may, upon payment of a nonrefundable fee as set forth in Chapter 133, Fees, reserve a taxicab license for such applicant for a period of 30 days, in each instance to allow for the passage of time for a conversion, inspection and approval by the Police Department of the motor vehicle as a taxicab.

E. 

In the event that the number of applications for a taxicab license exceeds the number of licenses provided in Subsection C above, there is hereby established a waiting list for applications in excess of the limitation of 175 licenses. Position on the waiting list shall be based on priority of receipt of completed application.

[Added 3-17-2015 by Ord. No. 60-2015]