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If you hate waiting for a cab at the airport, then imagine how the cab drivers feel, waiting hours at a time in a holding pen before being allowed to pick up passengers at a terminal.
Surely there is some way to match up the waiting passenger with the waiting taxi. No? Anyway, the Daily News reports that some drivers were paying their way to the front of the line. All whilst passengers just stood there like suckers, not bribing a soul in their own line.
All in all, 'six JFK Airport dispatchers were nabbed Monday for taking bribes from cabbies who wanted to avoid long waits to pick up fares. Queens prosecutors said the dispatchers accepted payouts of $5 and $10 to let taxi drivers avoid waits of as long as three hours.' The side business netted them hundreds of extra dollars on a busy day, but created an unfair 'playing field for all cab drivers,' according to the Port Authority's inspector general.
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In June, a group of French tourists got taken on a crazy, high-speed chase when cops moved in on one of the illegal livery van drivers, but that doesn't seem to have deterred the grifter hacks. In the Inside Edition segment, an undercover producer posing as a French tourist is approached by one of the drivers at JFK and offered a ride to Manhattan for $65. (By law, it's supposed to cost $45.) But as they approach Manhattan, the driver announces that the price has gone up to $85, and when they reach the destination, he tells the producer to make it an even $120.
The highlight is when the producer angrily confronts the driver, and the driver promises, "I’m going to stop doing it…'cause it’s against the law." But then they catch him hustling tourists again at the airport the following week! That lifestyle's just too tempting. One producer thought he had a relatively good deal when a JFK hustler offered him a ride to Manhattan for $65, but 'the driver ignored every traffic law imaginable and reached speeds as high as 70 miles an hour on the expressway at the height of rush hour by driving recklessly in the breakdown lane.' Which just shows that you can't skimp on illegal cabs.
According to the report, security guards at the airports don't do anything to stop the drivers from swooping down on tourists 'like vultures.' A new law is awaiting the governor's signature that will make the crime a misdemeanor; as it stands now first-time offenders can only be fined.
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While our city's bridges may be fantastic for falcons, they're unfortunately not so great when it comes to us humans. A new list, provided by the General Contractors Association, points out the worst bridges and elevated roadways right here in New York City. Drum roll please! 
Under the Kosciusko Bridge
According to the president of City College of NY, “You can only run vehicles over these bridges and freeways over a period of time before the wear and tear builds up.” Here's a look at the worst bridge collapses in the past 100 years, to aid with your nightmares tonight.
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