2 Men Caught On Video Getting Into Fight Over Cab In Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- How far would you go to hail a cab?
A video posted on YouTube last week shows two well-dressed men getting physical over a ride.
The fight erupted at Park Avenue South and 27thStreet in Murray Hill after a cab pulled over to let its passenger out, CBS 2's Weijia Jiang reported. The 22-second video clip, which was originally posted by user "iamcalsen," has been viewed more than 250,000 times. It shows a passenger wearing a white sweatshirt get out and then say "relax, relax!" as one man shoves the other and puts him in a headlock.
The man being restrained eventually breaks free of the grip and slips into the backseat.
"New York is the most competitive city in the world but these two took things way too far," the city's Taxi and Limousine Commissioner said in a statement. "If you miss a cab, just take a deep breath and calm down. There's another one in a minute or so away."
"It's a shame, it's a shame people have to do that to one another," said Charles Clementz of Highbridge.
Some New Yorkers said there's a certain etiquette to catching a cab.
"First person who's standing there gets the first cab that arrives," Kips Bay resident Jim Stasio said.
"I would let women go first, elderly go first, then I'd go after that," one person said.
"Well one should say go ahead, if you need to get where you're going," Vienna Davis of Midwood.
Salas Ahmed, who has been a cabbie of 16 years, said he has seen his share of scuffles over hailing a ride -- and doesn't like it.
"Not good for me, because I'm driving taxi. If traffic is moving and I stay in the middle lane, I would get a ticket, too," Ahmed said.
So even if the brawl was one of those New York moments, many of your fellow New York say next time ... just wait for the next taxi.
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