And while we had the mayor on the subject of the park – we had to ask about the Albert Street Taxi Union. They are still in negotiation with City Hall to get more parking slots – but this morning the cabbies told us that cops were sent out there to intimidate them. We asked the mayor, "what's up with that?"
Mayor Darrell Bradley "I got a briefing yesterday evening that they were some overtures indicating that there may be some kind of disturbance in that area because of some of the works that we are doing in that area. I don't know of what situations would have occurred this morning but if the police went out there, it must have been a result of information that they would have received. In terms of briefing us - the taxi persons had expressed dissatisfaction because admittedly if you have 13 spots and that's cut down then there would be some concern and I think that those police officers would have gone out there as a deterrent to make sure that whatever is going on, accords with the law and that people are not being unruly. We have to recognize the right that the taxi men have to use that space but the right has to also be balanced with the use of other people. The downtown area is a very small area, the streets are very narrow - you can't have a situation where you have one taxi station there and then right next to them in front of Brodie's you have another taxi station. So the entire area is being taken up by taxi parking which is one of the concerns that we have a difference. They will be and they have to be given spaces in front of the park but in terms of the logistics and the detail - we have to work that out to ensure that we recognize the rights of people who visit that area and who want to park there also."
The mayor and the president of the taxi union remain in negotiations for a greater number of spaces.
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And while we had the mayor on the subject of the park – we had to ask about the Albert Street Taxi Union. They are still in negotiation with City Hall to get more parking slots – but this morning the cabbies told us that cops were sent out there to intimidate them. We asked the mayor, "what's up with that?"
"I got a briefing yesterday evening that they were some overtures indicating that there may be some kind of disturbance in that area because of some of the works that we are doing in that area. I don't know of what situations would have occurred this morning but if the police went out there, it must have been a result of information that they would have received. In terms of briefing us - the taxi persons had expressed dissatisfaction because admittedly if you have 13 spots and that's cut down then there would be some concern and I think that those police officers would have gone out there as a deterrent to make sure that whatever is going on, accords with the law and that people are not being unruly. We have to recognize the right that the taxi men have to use that space but the right has to also be balanced with the use of other people. The downtown area is a very small area, the streets are very narrow - you can't have a situation where you have one taxi station there and then right next to them in front of Brodie's you have another taxi station. So the entire area is being taken up by taxi parking which is one of the concerns that we have a difference. They will be and they have to be given spaces in front of the park but in terms of the logistics and the detail - we have to work that out to ensure that we recognize the rights of people who visit that area and who want to park there also."