In New York City, the city of dreams,
the maximum taxi drivers are from India or you can say Punjab!
2 out of every 10 are Sikhs!
-But sometimes they called us Osama Bin Laden.
I think we are ignorant and we don't say anything to them
and we just close the door and come back.
Not just because of the salary.
You will earn the money in fact.
But mainly because of the fact that
there isn't much education needed in this field.
You can just come here after you pass you 12th!
But it's not as easy as it sounds like.
So that's why, today I'll be telling you the reality of
Taxi driving in NYC.
-Thank you!
It is totally covered by glass.
This glass is here for social distancing.
So as you know that the name of a new street in New York has been changed
from some random street to Punjab street.
There are already so many Punjabis here
And specially, the Punjabis are known to be Taxi drivers.
and I am lucky to have one
in NYC as well... from Airport to my Hotel.
Where are you from by the way?
-I am from Haryana.
Haryana?
I am from Amritsar...
I am from Ambala city..
Ahan!
I mean you are quite hardworking dude! It's 2 a.m. in the night but...
That is amazing!
You duty hasn't finished yet!
-What to do... It's the work... During this time, it's very busy!
I see. I see!
Till when do you work? I mean...
What is your schedule usually?
-I work from like... 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. in the morning.
9 p.m. to morning 5...
Then when do you sleep?
-The remaining time is all for sleeping!
Haha!
So here is the meter friends. Our charges would be 52 dollars.
If we had went for a lift or an Uber, it would have been 60-70 dollars!
So Taxi was the cheapest and best option.
-Hahaha! -Thank you bro!
I mean, people taxi Taxis by waiting on the line for hours!
It's amazing!
-Because Uber takes too much price. -Yeah! You are right!
I noticed one more thing.
We were thinking of taking a train at first
We were thinking that we should take a train
We would have take two trains.
We are going to Times Square. The hotel is near Times Square.
So for train, the first train is for 15 dollars.
The next train which is a subway is 2.5 dollars.
And still we would have to take an Uber after that!
So that was like 20 dollars per person!
Which makes 40 dollars in total!
So 52 dollars by Taxi is better than 40 dollars public transport.
Are the majority of Taxi drivers Punjabi?
Everyone is Punjabi here!
So cool man!
I will even make you meet them if you have the time.
According to you, all the Punjabi software engineers who come here,
they earn around 100k dollars.
But can the Taxi drivers make close to 100k as well?
Just give me an estimate... I am not asking about your salary.. haha
Give me an estimate!
Wait I will show you..!
I make around 4000 dollars per week.
See this...
My next shift will start after 12.
It will be 2800 dollars for 5 days of work.
Wow!! Congrats man!
Amazing man! But don't you feel like doing too much of hardwork all night?
It's 8-9 hours of work. It's not an issue. I mean, it's good!
The problem is that, New York Taxi is not like a normal car.
You cannot just go to the showroom and buy one and become a Taxi driver!
You actually have to buy a Taxi medallion as well!
Which is required by the New York State.
The cost of Medallion is around 200,000 dollars to 1M dollars!!
So that becomes the biggest challenge to become a New York Taxi driver.
Vicky told me that he used to drive Uber at first
and he just bought this new car.
How much money were you earning through the Uber?
Uber was also good. I have my own car and now I have given out for rent. But you have to put in more hours
You had to put in a lot of hours of Uber to save money and buy the car, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
This is why many drivers start their career from Uber or lift.
So that they can afford a Medallion one day.
And fun fact, New York State is trying its best to rescue Taxi drivers
who are currently in a huge debt at the moment
because of this 1M dollar medallions!
How much money can you make through an Uber in a month?
It would be like 8-9k in a month.
8-9k... They cut a lot! A Taxi is better!
Taxi is so much better!
So that's the best way. Start with Uber and then convert to Taxi!
Then you can make above 100k dollars as a Taxi driver. That is so so cool!
So, this is a tunnel. We'll have to pay Toll Tax here!
You have to be a permanent resident... Is there any way?
To be permanent, you can bring some kind of case.. like
asylum, wedding or adoption like cases.
Adoption, Asylum...
Many people do adoption. I mean if you are under 25,
If you are under 25, uhh
you can tell your cousins to adopt you.
You cousins, and uncles.. If they do you become permanent, right?
-Yeah. -Yep. That is also easy.
After becoming permanent you can start making money as a Taxi driver, right?
Amazing!
It's been 3 years of me driving.
3 years? Wow!
-I mean can you afford a car by driving Taxi? -Of course!
What a lifestyle! This is better than becoming a software engineer!
Haha!
So many of our Punjabis also become truck drivers in places like NYC and Canada.
So which job is better?
Truck driving or Taxi driving?
Because in Truck driving, you have to stay outside for the week.
But do Taxi drivers make more money or Truck drivers?
The money is the same in both cases.
People having their own truck may save more money.
In Taxis also, it's the same.
People having their own Taxis can save more money.
Like, they won't have to pay the rent..
Taxi is good!
Taxi is better, right?
With a taxi, you have your own freedom!
You come home... Uhh
You may be doing a 9-5 type job. It's a night shift though.
-But it's like you have got bit more freedom, right? -Yeah
-I don't want to work today.. so I won't. -Yeah!
But if you went out to drive the truck today, you can't come back the whole week..
-Yeah!! -Right?
So... I mean if you have your own truck,
then you can make more money. Otherwise it will be less, right?
-Yeah!! -Yep. That is so cool!
Amazing job! Thank you so much bro!
What is you good name?
My name is Vicky bro!
Cool. Thank you so much man!
So finally reached the intersection.
And I saw that this Toll Tax won't be his income.
So your income will only be 52 dollars.
We will pay 63, right?
-Yep. -Okay!
I will pay via Apple Pay.
Yeah, in the back..
Oh! You are gonna do it?
-You can choose credit card... -It's not here...
-You select card... -Oh! Yeah!
Oh! Yeah... I can..
Look at this. The taxes...
Okay...
So, toll tax is 6.25.. airport tax this much...
So it's 11 dollars in total.
Then 52 remain...
This 15 dollars is the tip...
Okay!
We have a lot of Punjabi things in Punjab Avenue, NY
This is the Last Bullet in NYC, you can't buy it here anymore