The hack license may interest you if you have you recently moved to New York City and are you looking for work. If you want to, perhaps you would like to get your own license and become a taxi driver.

What is that, you say? Well, the hack license is what you will need to get when you want to drive a yellow medallion taxicab in the city. This can be valuable if you are someone who needs steady work in the city.

How are you going to get this license in New York City? Well, you will need to go through a bit of paperwork, take required classes and study so that you can learn the highways, bridges and tunnels and various landmarks of the city. If you can do this, then it is most likely that you will be eligible for the New York City hack license.

Once you have it, you will need to get ready to go to work. And this type of job is not for slackers or somebody who does not have a lot of energy. You will probably work long hours, at least 12 on a shift. If this is you, then perhaps this is the perfect job for you. Go ahead and apply for your New York City hack license. Indeed, many taxi drivers can bring in upwards of $400 a shift with take-home pay of more than $200 a shift after expenses.

Now that we have got that cleared up, let us take a look at the definition of the word hack. What is it and what does it mean? Of course, this term can be a derogatory term, but historically, when someone is described as a hack, that means it is someone who is willing to work hard and will put in the time to do so.

It is possible that its origin came from the French word haquenee. This word was used for a horse whose gait was much smoother than that of a traditional horse, because the right legs or left legs moved in tandem instead of the traditional cross gait of a trot. This was much more comfortable for ladies who rode sidesaddle since it was much less jarring. And the term might have come from a borough in London called Hackney. By the way, in the UK, motorized hackney cabs are black instead of yellow as is traditionally true in the US.

In fact, the yellow medallion taxis have a tradition dating back to the 1930’s. Indeed, they are one of the lasting enterprises of New York City. Just in the last decade, over 1,000 new medallions have been auctioned off by the city. Recently, a taxi medallion cost its new owner more than $600,000. By contrast, these went for less than $200,000 in 2001. The winners are either driving now or they have sold their licenses at a profit to present medallion owners.

In New York City, however, the hack license to be a taxi driver is issued by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. This allows you to hack or drive a yellow cab. Indeed, having this license can be worth a lot to you.

If you have the hack license, you are one of the select drivers who can pick up hails, or people with their hand raised, on the streets of New York City. You also will accept hails anywhere within the five boroughs of the city itself. In addition, during your first eight hours of the shift, you will take passengers to the adjoining counties of Westchester or Nassau or the Newark, New Jersey international airport.

Do you think you would like to become a hack for New York City? If you do, you can find out more about getting your own hack license by contacting the Master Cabbie Taxicab Academy in New York City.

Copyright 2008 American Master Cabbie



By: David Lee Buster

About the Author:

A NY hack license is the term used that describes the license needed to drive a New York City taxi. Officially, the NY hack license is called a New York City taxi operators license and it is issued by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission. This license is good for all five boroughs and having it allows the driver to operate a yellow medallion taxi cab.

In New York City, only a yellow medallion taxi cab is allowed to pick up passengers on the street. To operate a taxi cab, you must possess a taxi drivers license. You must apply for this license through the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

The licenses issued through this agency for car service or limousines do not cover the operation of a yellow taxi cab. On the other hand, having the hack license allows the holder to operate a car service or limousine. Because of this, the NY hack license is the most prestigious and valuable of all the operator licenses issued by the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Those who are interested in getting this taxi drivers license often want to know what the requirements are. The requirements are that you must be at least nineteen years old and possess a New York State drivers license that is either a Class A, B, C or E. Your drivers license will be accepted if you have a comparable drivers license from Connecticut, Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

The majority of licenses in the State of New York are Class D. If you wish to upgrade from a Class D to a Class E, you need to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and pay the required upgrade fee. There are no tests involved but you must be prepared to pay about fifty dollars for the fee.

If you are interested in getting a NY hack license, make sure you have no unpaid parking tickets or traffic summons. If you owe the city fees for parking or traffic violations, you must either have paid them or you must have a documented settlement agreement with whatever department is responsible. This proof must be submitted to the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission with your application.

Another requirement is that you must be a citizen or a legal resident of the United States.

All applicants for the NY hack license need to attend a state certified six-hour defensive driving course. The course must have been completed no longer than six months before the date on your application.

Besides the training and status requirements, you must meet a medical requirement. The medical form is titled Form B and is part of the taxi drivers application. This form must be completed by a licensed physician.

You must submit your application for a NY hack license in person at the Taxi and Limousine Commission, which is located at 32-02 Queens Blvd, Long Island City. Their hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm.

They also have a location on Staten Island where you can turn in your application. This location is open on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday only. The address is 1893 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island. You must make an appointment at this location to have your application accepted. Call for an appointment at 212-227-6324.

There is an application fee of sixty dollars which must be paid at the time of submission. You must pay with a money order made payable to the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission.

When you apply, you must also pay a fee for fingerprinting which costs seventy-five dollars. Again, this fee must be paid by money order made out to the N.Y.S.D.C.J.S.

NY hack license applicants must pass a test for illicit drugs. If you do not complete or pass this test, you will not get your license. The approved drug testing location for taxi driving applicants is found at 31-00 47th Avenue, Long Island City.

This drug testing center is open for business Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. You will pay for the test at the time it is performed with a money order payable to Lab Corp, Inc. Anyone applying for the NY hack license that fails the drug test will be sent to a licensing standards hearing run by the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Another of the requirements is that you will need to complete mandatory classroom training in subjects related to driving a yellow cab in the city. There are city-approved training facilities that hold these classes. You will learn about the important city landmarks, tunnels, bridges and highways that you need to know well to be able to drive a yellow cab with success.

Having the license to drive a yellow cab can provide an interesting and financially rewarding job to persons who are not afraid of long hours of challenging work.



By: David Lee Buster

About the Author:

How To Get A Hack License In New York City

A New York City Taxi Drivers License is called a “Hack License”. The “Hack” license allows the holder / driver to operate a Yellow Medallion Taxicab in New York City. Only Yellow Taxicabs are allowed to pick up passengers hailing from the street. The Hack license, issued through The New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, is the only license for operating a Yellow Taxicab.

There are other licenses issued by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission for car service and limousines but they can not be used to operate the Yellow Taxicab. The Hack license however can be used to operate a limousine or car service vehicle. This fact makes the Hack License the most valuable of NYC T&LC issued operator licenses, as well as the most prestigious.

There are approximately 44,000 drivers carrying a Hack License in New York City today.

HOW TO GET A HACK LICENSE IN NYC

The Process and Requirements

• All applicants for a New York City Taxi Hack License must be no less than nineteen (19) Years of age

• Applicants are required to have, a Class A, B, C, or E N.Y. State Drivers License, or a license from New Jersey, Connecticut or Pennsylvania of a similar class.

• Most licenses in New York State are Class D.

• To change a license from a class D to a class E one must go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and pay an upgrade fee.

• There will be no test.

• The fee will be approximately fifty dollars.

An applicant may not have outstanding parking, or traffic summonses. Money owed to the New York City for parking or traffic violations must be paid, or a documented settlement agreement with the appropriate agency must be presented to the NYC T&LC licensing division at the time of application.

Applicants for a New York City Taxi Hack License must be citizens, or legal residents of the United States.

All applicants for a “Hack License” are required to attend a New York State certified, six-hour Defensive Driving Course.

• This defensive driving class must be attended within six months of the date of application to the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission for the Hack License.

• The number one provider of defensive driving courses for New York City Taxi Drivers is the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy. Mastercabbie.com. Classes are available six days per week. The price ( On 10/29/07) is $45. or $39. with online registration.

Applicants are required to complete Form B of the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission Taxi Drivers Application. This must be completed by a certified Medical Doctor.

• The application must be submitted in person to the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission at either 32-02 Queens Blvd. Long Island City N.Y. 11101 Monday through Friday 9AM to 4PM.

• A secondary location for submission is in Staten Island. Open Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays at 1893 Richmond Terrace Staten Island NY 10302.

• No walk-ins are permitted at the Staten Island Location.

• For an appointment call: 212-227-6324.

• At the time of application the applicant will be required to pay a sixty dollar application fee by money order made payable to the NYC TLC.

• At the time of application the applicant is also required to pay a seventy-five dollar fingerprinting fee by money order made payable to N.Y.S.D.C.J.S.

Applicants for a Hack License are required to be tested for illegal drugs. A Hack License will not be issued to any person not completing the test.

• The only pre-licensing approved drug testing center is at 31-00 47th Ave. Long Island City NY 11101.

• It is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

• Payment must be by money order made payable to Lab Corp. Inc.

• Failing the drug test will result in a licensing standards hearing conducted by the NYC T&LC. The application for the Hack License may be denied a license may not be issued in this case.

NYC requires mandatory pre-license training for all New York City taxi drivers. The training is conducted by approved training institutions. The minimum training requirement is a twenty-four hour program. A three day course, consisting of three eight hour components. Geography/Map Reading, Rules and Regulations / Defensive Driving and Customer Service are some of the topics of study.

There is a separate course consisting of Eighty Hours of classroom study requiring nine eight hour days of classroom training, and one day of testing. The Eighty-hour Program is the program on which the New York City Taxi driver test is based.

Other programs, for how to get a hack license which have no time constraints are also available. The most prominent program is conducted by Master Cabbie Taxi Academy. The programs are unlimited in length, so long as the student maintains a regular schedule at the school.

Other unlimited programs include all for the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission application process. Persons utilizing credit cards make use of this option to have Master Cabbie Taxi Academy make the fee’s available when the student is ready for each phase of the Hack licensing process. This removes the need to purchase money orders for which only cash can be used.

The taxi driver test for how to get a hack license in New York City consists of two parts. It is administered by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission each week at the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy.

• The Hack License applicant must successfully complete an English Proficiency as part of the exam. It is a low level ESL exam for basic, English proficiency, consisting of four parts. There are thirty questions, fifteen of which are fill-ins, and fifteen of which are multiple choice. An applicant must score twenty-one correctly to pass the exam. Applicants failing the exam are allowed to sit for a second exam on another date. Applicants failing the exam for a second time must submit a new application to the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission if they wish to continue the process of obtaining a New York City Hack License.

• The final step in the process of How To Get A Hack License in NYC is, The New York City Taxi Operators exam. The Taxi Operators exam consists of two parts. One part is open book and the other is closed book. Part One consists of ten questions. The applicant is allowed to use a Five (5) Borough New York City Atlas and a Street address locator during this portion of the exam. For this portion of the exam forty-five minutes is allowed.

• Part Two of the New York City Taxi Operators exam allows the applicant seventy-five minutes and consists of forty questions. Approximately twelve questions will pertain to rules and regulations and defensive driving questions. The remaining twenty-eight questions will pertain to geography, landmarks, highways, air, bus and train terminals, etc. Applicants must answer thirty-five questions correctly, scoring seventy percent, or better, to pass the exam. Applicants failing the exam are allowed to sit for a second exam on another date. Applicants failing the exam for a second time must submit a new application to the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission if they wish to continue the process.

Taxi drivers in New York City earn as much as one thousand dollars per week and more.

If you wish to apply for a New York City Hack License you should contact Master Cabbie Taxi Academy. At: 718-472-1699 or 1-800-955-TAXI.

© Terry Gelber October 2007

Terry Gelber has a NYC Hack License.



By: terry gelber

About the Author: