NY Mag’s Cop Cab Story Drives Commenters Crazy
New York Magazine’s Daily Intel just realized that undercover police ride around in ordinary looking taxicabs looking for lawbreakers, or really anyone, to jump out and surprise arrest. It’s totally freaking them out! Naturally, commenters aren’t letting them get away with this no-duh announcement about cop cabs patrolling our streets, even if it is a somewhat helpful reminder. Which means some NY Mag staffers are getting all defensive about being out of touch. Who knew yellow cops were such a hot-button issue?
“this is not new at all”
Heatherc123“We’re agreed that it’s unfair, but CopCabs really aren’t new. I’ve seen them around the city for years.”
N27“You guys are so late with this news.”
Kilroy161“Not new at all. Used to be you could still spot them from a letter/number in their cab numbers, drugs have erased the memory of what the trick was…”
Davinessex“Really? You are just writing about this now? Really? This is nothing new.. but still.. where else are they lurking? Halal Stands? Our coffee stands? Our Shoe-shiners? Are cops disguised as other cops? The possibilities are endless..”
Lindzani9“Whatever! They’re new to us. So shut up, jerks.”
Jessica Pressler (NY Mag)“New or not, whatever — a cop in a yellow cab is, like, cheating. It’s bothersome.”
Jessica Coen (NY Mag)“Who’s kid wrote this? It’s lightweight even for a fluff piece.”
HTZ“Wow, ya have to admit this is quintessential being out of touchness. It’s almost as bad as when Graydon Carter said he never saw an opened fire hydrant before in the summer months. Yes, cops do drive in cabs for well over a decade now. And as most REAL NY’ers know, it usually has the letter ‘Y’ in the cab’s ID. But yeah, I have to agree, this is like reporting that peeled Mangos are sold in Bushwick.”
BuckyTurco“Bushwick? Where the hell’s that? And what’s a mango?”
Skookum
The most reliable way to spot an undercover cop cab, besides noticing the big burly undercover-looking dudes sitting inside, seems to be the license plate doesn’t match the medallion number. Sometimes the license plate is eight characters long, instead of six. We’ve also seen a few cop cabs whose medallions began with “2W,” like the one we photographed above.
Every New Yorker who occasionally drinks beer on the street, cops a public piss, smokes a joint or hates getting hassled, should know to be aware of cabs as well as cop cars.
By Ted on August 6th, 2008 at 6:01 pmNot sure if its true, but I always looked for two people in the front seat. Seems cops rarely go dolo, so it made sense. Its kinda hard to look at headlights down the street and figure out the license or ID number.
By Takin Tags on August 7th, 2008 at 9:16 amThis is nothing new. In the Autobiography of Malcolm X… He talks about this going on in 1945.
By Sam Soul on August 20th, 2008 at 3:30 pmantennas on the back same as in undercover crown vics u can tell by the antennas not the same as regular cab antennas usualy has one dead center of trunk of car check the antennas
By sels rockz on August 24th, 2008 at 8:13 pmUsta be ‘6Y’ startin’ numbers on the cabs, but I don’t think it’s so anymore. Got busted by one of these fuckers in ‘99.
By SeMeNSPeRmS on September 12th, 2008 at 2:54 am