NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission Had the Authority to Mandate the Use of a Particular Vehicle as a NYC Taxi
The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Saxe, over a dissent, determined that the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) did not exceed its grant of authority under the NYC Charter and did not violate the separation of powers doctrine when it mandated the use of a particular vehicle for taxis in NYC. The TLC essentially designed a vehicle, to be used as New York City medallion taxicabs, which met all of its criteria and then chose a manufacturer, Nissan, to build it. Under the “Taxi of Tomorrow Rules…”, after October 31, 2013, holders of unrestricted medallions who were scheduled to replace their taxi vehicles were required to buy the Nissan (called the Nissan NV200). An association of taxi fleet owners brought an action for a declaratory judgment asking the court to find the “Taxi of Tomorrow Rules…” invalid. Supreme Court did so, holding that the TLC had exceeded its powers under the NYC Charter and had essentially crossed the line between administration and legislation. The First Department disagreed and reversed:
Ultimately, the key to determining whether an agency has exceeded the scope of its authority is …in examining the enabling legislation. The scope of the mandate established by City Charter § 2300 is sufficiently expansive to permit the TLC to act as it did. * * *
…[H]ere …the Legislature had clearly articulated its policy regarding the TLC’s assigned task, namely, the goal of ensuring and optimizing the comfort of riders, while protecting the public, the environment, the drivers, and the rights of medallion owners. The TLC was not left to take action based on its own ideas of sound public policy. Even if, arguendo, the TLC’s adoption of the revised Taxi of Tomorrow rules may be characterized as involving policy-making, here, the parameters of that policy-making were set by the City Council in the City Charter. Greater NY Taxi Assn v New York City Taxi & Limousine Commn, 2014 NY Slip Op 04156, 1st Dept 6-10-14