Port Authority seeks a few good taxis
By Gersh Kuntzman
The Brooklyn Papers
Hey, taxi the Port Authority is hailing you.
The bi-state agency, which will help christen the new Red Hook cruise ship terminal with the arrival of the Queen Mary 2 on April 15, is looking for a car-service company that can handle the hundreds of disembarking passengers at the Brooklyn home port.
The new terminal will welcome 38 of the gargantuan crafts this year. And according to the agencys request for proposals, roughly 35 percent of each boats 2,500-3,000 velour-suited passengers will need a cab when they disembark enough buffet-fed tourists to swamp virtually all Brooklyn livery services combined.
The winning cab company must also have a dedicated, experienced, on-site uniformed dispatch service [and] a dedicated management staff another requirement that many Brooklyn cab customers say does not exist in the borough.
There is not a single company in the city, let alone Brooklyn, that could do what [the Port Authority is] asking, said Alex Mulerman, the comptroller at Apex Limousines, which is the closest black-car company to the ship terminal.
Apex has 150 cars at its disposal.
Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said the agency would most likely settle on two or three companies to handle the traffic jointly.
Weve never done anything like this before, he said. At the Port Authority-run airports, for example, yellow cabs pick up multitudes of passengers.
The agency will host a tour of the facility, which is still being built, on Wednesday, March 15, at 10 am. Bids will be due a week later.
All proposals must take into account the Port Authoritys cut: $2 per car or $250 per ship, whichever is greater.
The Brooklyn Papers
Hey, taxi the Port Authority is hailing you.
The bi-state agency, which will help christen the new Red Hook cruise ship terminal with the arrival of the Queen Mary 2 on April 15, is looking for a car-service company that can handle the hundreds of disembarking passengers at the Brooklyn home port.
The new terminal will welcome 38 of the gargantuan crafts this year. And according to the agencys request for proposals, roughly 35 percent of each boats 2,500-3,000 velour-suited passengers will need a cab when they disembark enough buffet-fed tourists to swamp virtually all Brooklyn livery services combined.
The winning cab company must also have a dedicated, experienced, on-site uniformed dispatch service [and] a dedicated management staff another requirement that many Brooklyn cab customers say does not exist in the borough.
There is not a single company in the city, let alone Brooklyn, that could do what [the Port Authority is] asking, said Alex Mulerman, the comptroller at Apex Limousines, which is the closest black-car company to the ship terminal.
Apex has 150 cars at its disposal.
Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said the agency would most likely settle on two or three companies to handle the traffic jointly.
Weve never done anything like this before, he said. At the Port Authority-run airports, for example, yellow cabs pick up multitudes of passengers.
The agency will host a tour of the facility, which is still being built, on Wednesday, March 15, at 10 am. Bids will be due a week later.
All proposals must take into account the Port Authoritys cut: $2 per car or $250 per ship, whichever is greater.
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