Modern Living: The Easy Marks

Early one morning last week, a Manhattan patrolman walked up to a taxi parked across the street from Central Park. The driver sat slumped over the wheel, apparently asleep. Trying to arouse him, the policeman discovered that Benjamin Rivera, 44, was dying from a bullet wound close to his heart. The motive for Rivera's slaying was clear: his changemaker was missing.

Rivera was the seventh New York cabby killed by holdup men so far this year, another victim of an increasing number of taxi robberies occurring across the nation. Within hours after Rivera's murder, Mayor John Lindsay announced a plan—already being tested in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles—to make New York taxis less tempting targets for holdup men. Sturdy, locked cashboxes will be welded to the frames of New York's 11,700 cabs. All fares will be promptly deposited in the boxes, which the drivers cannot unlock. There the money will remain until the boxes are opened at the taxi garage. Drivers will be encouraged to carry only about $5 in change and cab riders educated to have exact—or near-exact —amounts of money available to pay for their rides. Thus, according to proponents of the scheme, holdup men will soon realize that a cab stickup will net them only a few dollars at best, and begin losing interest in taxis.

Protected Profits. There is evidence that the lockbox works. In Oakland, where all Yellow Cabs have the boxes, robberies are off by 25%. In Los Angeles, where 758 Yellow Cabs were equipped with strongboxes in July, stickups have dropped by 50%. Philadelphia's Yellow Cab Co. will soon test the system.

Taxi riders, especially those rushing to an appointment or to catch a commuter train with only a $20 bill in their pockets, are bound to be inconvenienced. But surprisingly enough, many cabbies also dislike the strongbox concept. "Now the junkies will hit you on the head and drive somewhere and break open the box," says New York Hackie Milt Pashkin. San Francisco cabbies refuse to use cashboxes already installed because they fear mixups over money after the boxes are unlocked at the garage. Other cabbies feel that even the lure of a $5 haul is enough for an addict desperate for a fix. Or, as a New York cabby put it, "they might beat up the driver because he's not carrying enough money. Lockboxes are fine for the owners because they protect the profits. No wonder owners are all for the idea, even though the cabby isn't protected."

Fringe Benefit. Real security, most drivers agree, will come only when all cabs are equipped with immovable, bulletproof screens between driver and passengers (payment would be made via a tray that would slide between cabby and passenger), as well as driver control over back-seat door locks. New York's experience with the slide-open screen has not been too successful. "On a hot summer night," says a police spokesman, "what's a cabby supposed to do—drive with his window shut?"