The Newark City Council met this morning for a special session to a packed room of taxi drivers, company representatives and supporters echoing the City’s stance on the operations of app-based car-for-hire services like Uber.
Newark Chief Prosecutor Evans C. Anyanwu recently warned Uber that, beginning this past Monday, the city would begin to tow Uber cars-for-hire that are not licensed by the city and in violation of City ordinances. However, the City eventually backed down from that stance. Last Friday, Anthony F. Ambrose, the city’s public safety director said in a statement, “We do not anticipate any towing. We are reviewing the situation.”
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Newark Liberty International Airport’s operator, issued a statement last Friday saying that Port Authority police “will not take steps to prevent access” to ridesharing firms at Newark Liberty. Today, however, the Council Chambers roared in support of comments made by Councilman Luis A. Quintana about the lack of regulation of the app-based car-for-hire services and the impact that it’s had on traditional taxi drivers.
The pause in Newark’s enforcement was brief, however, as the City took time to evaluate the Port Authority’s position that it would not take steps to prevent access by ridesharing firms. Chief Prosecutor Anyanwu sent another letter yesterday stating that the City of Newark would continue it’s crackdown efforts on “any unauthorized vehicles engaged the business of carrying passengers for hire, to enforce the City’s ordinance.”
The members of the City Council were all in attendance for today’s session with the exception of Councilman Carlos M. Gonzalez.
