It’s an ongoing joke that a lot of New York City cabbies will pass up an opportunity to pick up a black passenger. Apparently, when it happened to “Today” host, Al Roker, he didn’t find it funny, so he took matters into his own hands.
Back in November, Al Roker took to Twitter to tell the world about how he and his 13-year old son were snubbed by a cab driver who opted to pick up a white passenger a block away. “This happens to people of color every day and while most cabbies do their job, there are those ignorant racist ones who hurt the others.” Roker went on to tweet that he was hurt he even had to explain to his son why the cabbie passed them by.
Well, the daytime TV host filed a complaint which made its way to the Taxi & Limousine Commission. They gave the driver two options, pay a $500 fine or have a hearing where he could possibly have his license suspended up to 30 days. Mahabur Rahman, the driver, ended up entering a plea of guilty for a service refusal violation. He was fined $500. Sadly, this is his second offense in the last year. The same cabbie was forced to pay a $200 fine last May for refusing to pick up someone as well.
