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By: Fern Sidman
In a deeply troubling episode emblematic of the rising tide of antisemitism in New York City, a yellow cab driver was filmed launching a torrent of antisemitic abuse at a Jewish passenger in Lower Manhattan — and city officials are now moving swiftly to strip him of his license permanently, The New York Post has learned.
The shocking encounter, which took place in Tribeca, was captured on video and posted by the Anti-Jew Hate Organization to its Jew Hate Database Instagram account. The footage shows the visibly enraged driver screaming, “You guys look for trouble, yes, you are a f–king Jew!” in a profanity-laced tirade directed at the passenger, who remained remarkably composed throughout the verbal assault.
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“You realize you just lost your license, right?” the passenger says calmly.
Unfazed, the driver retorts with stunning audacity: “No, you are going to lose your own license.”
As The New York Post reported on Saturday, the incident was quickly flagged as a targeted act of antisemitism rather than a mere dispute over route or fare. According to the Anti-Jew Hate Organization, the outburst erupted after the driver intentionally disregarded directions and artificially inflated the fare, prompting a confrontation that then escalated into open hate speech. “This wasn’t about a wrong turn — it was targeted Jew hatred,” the organization wrote in the caption accompanying the post. “Jewish New Yorkers deserve safety and dignity on every ride.”
The video, which has garnered over 5,500 likes, sparked immediate outrage and drew sharp condemnation from both civic leaders and community advocates. The New York Post report noted that one rabbi wrote, “He’s about to be famous in a very bad way,” while another commenter urged, “Take his license.”
The response from city regulators was swift and unequivocal. David Do, Commissioner of the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC), confirmed to The New York Post that the driver has been identified and that the agency’s Prosecution Unit will seek to permanently revoke his TLC license.
“Hate has no place on our roads and is totally unacceptable,” Do told The Post. “As soon as we learned about this disturbing incident, we worked to identify the driver. Our Prosecution Unit will be seeking to permanently revoke his TLC license.”
The TLC, in coordination with the original poster of the video, has opened a formal investigation. According to officials cited in The New York Post report, the commission acted quickly to reach out and begin building a case against the driver, relying on public reports and video documentation as part of its internal review.
“This is not just about professional misconduct,” one city official noted. “This is about protecting the safety and civil rights of every passenger in New York.”
The New York City Taxi Instagram account also responded to the post publicly, commenting: “Thank you for bringing our attention to this. Please check your DMs. We sent a message to get more information so we can investigate.”
As The New York Post report highlighted, this latest incident comes amid a disturbing surge in antisemitic attacks throughout the city. In April alone, a woman in Brooklyn was arrested for scrawling a swastika and the word “Nazi” on a brick and leaving it on the bumper of a Tesla Cybertruck parked outside a yeshiva in the Kensington section of the borough. The NYPD’s hate crime statistics for March further painted a grim picture: of the 57 confirmed hate crime incidents recorded citywide that month, 31 targeted Jews — more than half.
These figures reflect what advocates have been warning for months — that antisemitism is not just festering in shadowy corners but is increasingly visible in everyday public life, from classrooms and workplaces to the city’s transit and transportation systems.
While the Jewish victim in the Tribeca cab incident has not been publicly identified, the Anti-Jew Hate Organization’s post has galvanized widespread attention, with calls for swift and decisive accountability. The New York Post reached out to the group for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Under current TLC rules, drivers found guilty of discriminatory behavior can face suspension or revocation of their license, depending on the severity of the offense. In this case, the language captured on video — blatant hate speech based on religion and ethnicity — is expected to meet the threshold for permanent disqualification.
Officials emphasized that all misconduct reports should be submitted via 311 or 911 to initiate an investigation. A 311 complaint, they stressed, is required to formally trigger disciplinary action.
For many in the Jewish community, this case is emblematic of a broader sense of unease. As The New York Post has reported, Jewish New Yorkers — particularly those who are visibly observant — have become increasingly frequent targets of hate-fueled harassment, often in the very neighborhoods where they live, work, and pray.
City leaders have vowed to counter this trend with both vigilance and policy. The TLC’s swift response, in coordination with civil society groups and city law enforcement, signals a growing awareness that hate speech — especially when directed at vulnerable minorities — must be met with zero tolerance.
Yet, as The New York Post report indicated, enforcement must be matched with moral clarity. The Tribeca outburst was not merely a matter of unprofessional conduct or fare dispute — it was an assault on dignity, targeting someone solely because of their Jewish identity.
As one user commented under the now-viral post: “No one should have to fear stepping into a taxi because of who they are.”
The city’s efforts to ensure that message is heard — and acted upon — have only just begun.