#Taxi drivers block traffic outside City Hall to demand debt relief

New York City cabbies formed a protest caravan of yellow taxis on Thursday, blocking traffic outside City Hall and the offices of three separate medallion lenders to demand immediate debt relief.

The already-beleaguered taxi business has collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic, with 75 percent of New York’s for-hire drivers out of work, the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission said last month.

Thursday’s protest — which began at 10 a.m. outside City Hall — was led by members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance who are plagued by thousands of dollars of debt on overpriced medallion loans.

The protesters collectively owe $132 million to various banks, the alliance said — including the three targeted on Thursday: Medallion Financial, Aspire and NY Commercial Bank.

“Somebody told me my medallion is worth $50,000 or $75,000. I owe $436,000,” said Brooklynite Jean Tannis, 69, a taxi medallion owner since 1987.

With no end in sight to the pandemic’s devastating economic impact, Tannis said he cannot expect to make enough money to pay his $2,300 monthly loan payment.

“I want to go back to work, but with the pandemic, when we go to JFK [Airport] we spend five, six hours waiting, and … make maybe $75 for the whole day,” he said.

Tannis told The Post he sees two possible routes out — some sort of debt relief courtesy of the city and his lender, or bankruptcy.

“Even if I’m driving until I die, I will never be able to pay this loan,” he said.

“If the city can help us, if they reduce the loans and leave us with like $100,000, $150,000 even — if we don’t go to work, we can try to pay back the loan. Otherwise, we have to give it back.”