Why didn’t I hail a cab in New York City?
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When you are in New York City, you definitely must try a hot dog from a cart, get lost in Central Park and… catch a ride in a NYC taxi 😉 If you thought it was easy to hail a cab, well, it is not such a piece of cake!
The cabs do not appear every time you start waving your hand and shouting „taxi” at the top of your lungs. Sometimes taxis just pass by without stopping at all. Of course you might be lucky to see a cab materialize out of nowhere and stop.
Let’s say you want to get a taxi from Upper Manhattan to JFK Airport. What do you do?
My first thought was to make a phone call and book a taxi! Then I asked my American friends if they have a phone number so that we can arrange for a taxi. They looked at me a bit confused and said „Well, you need to go to the street and try to hail a cab”… okay… So I went online and found there was no phone number at all.
It can be pretty difficult to go to the street with all your luggage and a 2-year-old super energetic kid and try to throw your hand in the air… so we had to find another way.
When you think of a NYC cab, you immediately connote a yellow taxi… but there are other options, too!
You can use a special car service (Dial 7 is one of the most popular ones). You can either call them or book a car online (you can select the type of a car you like, including hybrid sedans, cars with wi-fi or limousines).
If you don’t want to do it the old-fashioned way, there’re e-hail apps like Uber or CabSense. CabSense uses millions of GPS data points and shows its users the best spots to catch a taxi near any location in NYC. Uber connects riders with drivers using their phone’s GPS data and lets both parties know one another’s location.
GLOSSARY
a cart – wózek
catch a ride – złapać okazję
a piece of cake – bułka z masłem, nic trudnego
at the top of your lungs – wniebogłosy, ile tchu
to see a cab materialise* – widzieć jak taksówka się materializuje
pass by – przechodzić obok
out of nowhere – znikąd
arrange for a taxi – załatwić taksówkę
confused – zakłopotany
pretty difficult – dość trudny
connote – przywoływać
e-hail apps – aplikacje służące do szukania taksówki
spot – miejsce
rider – pasażer
one another* – siebie nawzajem
*see sb do & one another/each other – you’ll find the explanations in the e-book
Have an awesome day and week! 🙂 Życzę Ci pozytywnie naładowanego dnia i tygodnia! 🙂
