New York, NY – Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani issued the following statement after City Hall announced the taxi medallion debt relief deal Tuesday:

“On November 3 of last year, we broke our 15-day hunger strike with the news of a tentative agreement between the City, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, and Marblegate, the largest taxi medallion lender in the industry. Today, we celebrate as that dream comes alive – finally providing NYC taxi drivers the relief they deserve.

The realization of this agreement is a testament to the organizing of the 25,000 driver-members of NYTWA who have fought tirelessly for years - to keep their homes, to send their kids to college, to fight for those we lost to suicide, and to live a future free of the devastation of the debt crisis. I am proud to have stood with NYTWA through the fight for this program, and I am grateful to all who helped bring this agreement to fruition.”

Context:

The program allows owner-drivers to restructure taxi medallion loans with a maximum principal balance of $170,000 after a $30,000 grant and a fixed interest rate of 7.3% or less. Each loan also has a city-funded guarantee, ensuring that lenders cannot pursue drivers’ assets to settle outstanding debts.

Medallion owner-drivers can apply to the debt relief program and begin closing on restructured loans on September 19th. Applications will close October 31, 2022.