Welcome to New York, Now Get in The Van
When the airports say avoid transportation solicitors in the terminal, they really mean it. Five French tourists had to find that out the hard way. They were approached by a "steerer" after arriving at JFK on their Air France flight who directed them towards a van that would take them to Manhattan. The NY Post reports:
PA cops recognized [Ian] McFarland as a longtime "steerer" and Officer Michael Bestany reached inside the van to try to grab the keys, the source said.
The driver floored it, knocking Bestany to the ground.
With cops right behind, the driver roared west along the Belt Parkway and onto Linden Boulevard, forcing other cars to get out of the way.
It then snaked through residential streets, went in circles and crashed through the mechanical gate arm of a US Postal Service facility on Forbell Street in East New York.
The driver and McFarland jumped out of the van while it was still moving. It then slamed into a postal truck. The cops quickly arrested the two men but one of the tourists had injured her arm while trying to jump out of the truck. Sheesh.
Last month, when we landed at JFK we made our way to the taxi line with our bags and were accosted by at least six men asking us if we needed a ride. We just ignored them and got to the taxi stand. When the woman in front of us complained about the harassment, we asked the taxi line attendant, "Isn't that illegal?" He responded, "Yes, big time" and then ushered us into a NYC taxi. Only in New York.
Related Stories:
· Tourist Hell Ride [NY Post]
· On the Road Again: How to Reach New York's JFK Airport [Jaunted]
[Photo: New York Post ]
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