Twenty pedicab drivers and two ride thieves

Imagine that you work in an office.  You arrived at work yesterday only to find your office door was locked.  Someone had gotten in and was doing your work.  They sneaked in before you got there, took over your job for the day, kept to themselves, emailed the work out at 5 PM, and finished up.  The person who took over your office for the day then went to your boss and demanded your salary! 

Should the manager pay them, because of the work they did or should you,  the person who was hired for the job, be paid?  This was the position I found myself in yesterday: the position of the manager who has been fooled by someone who usurped the place of the hired worker. 

Yesterday was Monday, July 26.  On May 21 I got a query from a tour operator in Ohio: would I organize a tour of Central Park by twenty pedicabs for July 26?  The gig was to be a full tour of the lower loop of Central Park, followed by a trip south on Seventh, right turn on 47th to the hotel on Eighth Avenue. We corresponded back and forth for the next two months, twenty emails in all, covering the route, pickup and dropoff, customer preferences, payment, timing, etc. 

On my own, I started finding drivers.  This would be tricky.  Monday is the day off for people in the tourism and hospitality trades, including pedicab drivers.

Working within the framework of the NYC Pedicab Owner Association (POA), of which I'm a member, is best.  I hired drivers for the event who either owned their own pedicabs or rented from POA members.  These people have a stake in the pedicab industry and are least likely to get instructions wrong, or to get ticketed while driving with clients.  In a word, they're trustworthy.  It's probable that they're also trained better than drivers from non-POA companies, but that's a matter of opinion. 

The bulk of POA member garages are not in Midtown.  Revolution Rickshaw is down on far West 31st Street; Manhattan Rickshaw, in business since 1995, is way down on Washington near 10th, in the West Village.  But their people are dedicated.  Some of them have been driving at least as long as I have.  I knew they could be counted on to show up, even on a Monday. 

About two weeks from the date of the tour, I started hiring drivers.  Got nine on the first day.  I would be the second-oldest driver.  The eldest was 68.  Between the tour operator in Ohio and myself, we calculated 1.5 hours for the whole tour.  Payment was to be better than average, which made it easier to get people for a Monday gig. 

One driver is 68, as said, and I'm glad to get him any work I can.  Another is a petite woman who just turned 40.  She needed the money for some health-related matters.  Very few pedicabbers have health insurance, so keeping healthy can be very expensive. 

On the morning of the 3:00 PM ride, I group texted all those who were hired: "Say YES if you're ready for this afternoon's ride."  One after another, the YESes came in, though there were a few who couldn't make it.  And one whose phone was turned off.  I hung out here at my desk, getting the numbers of POA members and even nonmembers.  Then I had to arrange with a POA member who owned several pedicabs to make a definite replacement for the missing man.  He also brought another driver on standby, in case one or two of my people wouldn't show up.  As it happened, someone also had a flat tire and nearly missed the gig! 

Twenty pedicabs gathered in the unused parking lot of the once and future Tavern On The Green.  But several pedicabbers not in the gig showed up as well.  Suspecting that I might, after all, need to hire them, I asked them to wait and see how things turned out.  The tour escort had earlier offered to pay on the spot for extras if needed.

But here I made a crucial pair of mistakes.  I didn't think to separate their pedicabs from my guys.  I also didn't think to mark my pedicabs with the name of the tour company, which I really should have done.  I'll always do that from now on.  It turned out badly for me and two other drivers who drove three miles up from Greenwich Village for the gig. 

The customers came in.  I greeted them en masse, then turned to the tour escort and the licensed guide, an old friend, as the customers went and got into pedicabs.  One minute later I turned around.  A few pedicabs had already left!  I had wanted to stagger their departures.  Who pulled out in such a hurry, I wondered to myself? 

As the rest pulled out into the park, it became clear that two of my hired drivers were empty.  I turned to the tour operator and asked, "Did everyone show up?  All forty?"
"Yes, they're all here.  Is everything OK?"
My pedicab was empty, as well as those of two other drivers.
"Something's wrong... it looks like six people got on the wrong bikes." 
Instantly I thought of the standbys.  I thought they had mistakenly gotten mixed up in the ride.  But the important thing from the operator's point of view was that all the customers were getting their tour.  So they and the guide left, and I was left with the two drivers. 

When the tour was over, my spare drivers and I drove down to the hotel.  I had to pay the drivers.  One of them maintained that the two who "mistakenly" picked people up were ride thieves.  When I got there, a few of my drivers whispered and texted to me that the two guys who had come in on their own had hustled customers into their 'cabs and taken off. The two were unaware that I, and not the customers, would pay drivers at the end.



And what is a ride thief?  This is a term peculiar to our industry.  A ride thief insinuates himself into a lineup for a ride, takes off with customers, then demands payment for the work that he did, ignoring the fact that he's shut someone else out of the job. 
As it turned out, my friend's standby driver had mistakenly picked people up.  I apologized to him and gave him $10 out of my own pocket. Then  I talked with one of the ride thieves, explaining that I had NOT told him to pick people up; that I'd asked him to wait.  He was not happy to hear that I couldn't pay him.  At that moment, I believed him to be an honest man who had made a mistake.  A day later, I'm still wondering.  I've always liked the guy. 
 
But the other guy!  He demanded payment.  "I just worked an hour and a half, and you don't want to give me anything?"  I apologized and explained that I'd asked him to wait.  "I'm waiting!  I'm waiting now!"  He kept on demanding money for the work he'd done, not listening to my explanations.  I got out my Manhattan map and showed him that the driver he's taken the ride from had come in on the train from Queens, walked ten blocks to the garage, and drove three miles up to the park.   And that they would have to go back empty-handed if I paid him for taking their customers. 
 
I apologized to this guy like fifteen times, but he wasn't having it.  I offered him $10 out of my own pocket (should I get nothing for doing all this planning and execution?).  "F U C K your ten dollars!"  He kept insisting that I owed him the same payment I gave all the others. 
 
One of my friends spoke to him in French, his native tongue, explaining the situation, plucking the map out of my hand and showing the ride  thief how much the other driver deserved the money.  Another driver told him that the money was all paid out to the hirees; there was no more to pay him with. 
 
Finally he rode off, angrily pointing at me and saying, "I'm gonna remember you owe me money!!"  A veiled threat?
 
Now I have twenty drivers appreciative of making good money on a Monday, two unhappy drivers, and one wild card.  What happens next time he sees me, and we're not surrounded by other drivers? 

END

Find my videos about New York and worldwide travel by going to Youtube.com and typing in "TourguideStan"

Volunteer work:
TourguideStan on the New York City forum of traveler advice at TripAdvisor.com.  http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g60763-i5-New_York_City_New_York.html

My site for pedicab, bike, bus or walking tours: http://www.oconnorgreentoursnyc.com/

The Indians are coming

The Indians are coming to America.

The first time India had dealings with the West was in the 15th century, shortly before Columbus. The nation of Portugal was benefitting from the distribution of information and knowledge that doctors, naturalists and college-level teachers had been doing at the beginning of the Renaissance: new discoveries were being disseminated, in letters written in Latin, throughout European centers of learning.  Portuguese sea maps of coastlines were becoming the best in the world, and gaining in importance to the government there. The government had been paying privateers to go further and further south along the coast of Africa, and getting reports back of new lands discovered beyond the Sahara. At one point the locals would pay in ivory for European trade goods, so that area on the newest maps was labelled "the ivory coast," followed by "the gold coast" and so on down to the Cape of Good Hope.

With ships heading north up the east coast of Africa, Portuguese princes wondered if the Egyptian philosopher Ptolemy might have been right in his prediction that Africa could one day be sailed around. That is, circumnavigated.  The Portuguese, with their accurate maps, were the first Europeans to do so. They found Muslims as far south as present-day Kenya, and the Arabic language in use. This was handy:  Portugal had come out from under Moorish rule that century, and many sailors could speak Arabic for calling on Moorish ports.

A ship loaded with trade goods made it as far as Riyadh. (An educated Arab asked, "How did you get here?")   The ship's captain located a pilot who could guide them to Kalkota (Calcutta, in the West), and plotted coastline positions on their maps along the way. When finally received by the Raja, the Portuguese offered woolens to tropical India, and were instantly rebuffed. They and their ship were sent away. The Indians thought the Portuguese had been errant sailors on a lone ship, off on some crazy adventure. But the true mission was to find and plot the exact location of Kalkota!

So they left, and re-circumnavigated Africa, stopping at Portuguese way-stations and Portuguese-friendly harbors along the way. And then Portugal built an armada.

The armada sailed around Africa, secure in the knowledge that they were the only people in the world capable of doing so. And they sailed across the Indian Ocean directly to Kalkota, destroyed its navy, laid waste to the palace, killed the raj, and took over all shipping. Within 15 years, every ship running between Riyadh and Singapore paid a tribute to Portugal.

And no one even knew where it was.

The other European countries started copying Portuguese maps from captured ships, and soon Spain was circumnavigating Africa (and sending Columbus off on his wild goose chase). The other ocean-faring countries, France, England, Netherlands and even the Swedes to an small extent, went east in search of riches.

Britain eventually took over almost all of India, save for a treatied Portuguese colony town called Goa, which remained Portuguese until about 1970. Goans speak Hindi and Portuguese, in addition to English.






Let's come to present-day India. 
India's colonial history is much the same as America's: predominantly English.  Use of English was enforced by Great Britain.  Hindi and other languages such as Gujarati or Urdu were suppressed. 
Britain freed India in 1947, whereupon it split into India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan.  East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1970. 
English is the second language in these three countries.  Educated Indians speak English, and English words abound in Hindi. 



The years just before the dot-com bust in 2000-2001 brought worldwide expansion in internet communications and the fiber-optic infrastructure it runs on, mostly paid for by large multinational communications giants.  That recession led many giants to sell off their new comm networks.  Smaller Indian comm companies bought fiber-optic lines in and around India, and bought access into fiber-optic lines worldwide.
Then they used their English-language background and newfound web-tech savvy in new ways: people in Bangalore were trained to sound like Americans, Irishmen, Canadians, and Englishmen, and these people staffed call centers that cater to the people of these nations.  The system works well.  When you have trouble with your computer and ask to talk to a "real person," the real person may be talking to you over superfast fiber-optic lines from the other side of the world!  Likewise, there are call centers for internet-based companies, online shopping companies, American and Canadian store chains and what-have-you. 

I was once a medical transcriptionist.  Now it's faster and cheaper for a medical company to contract with an Indian transcription firm.  The workers are paid a low wage by American standards, but that's a pretty high wage by Indian standards.  Plus, their daytime is our nighttime, so audio tapes from the doctors are changed into files, emailed over to India, typed out overnight, and delivered back as transcripts the next morning's email.  There is currently no way to beat that. 

Indians are earning good money from Western companies, as well as having their own startups that are successful both in the East and West, due to the triple advantage of:
a. English language background
b. lower wages than in the West
c. high-speed internet

And these people are really curious about The West.  India's GDP grows at double the rate of America's.  Granted, that's from a low base GDP.  But it gives rise to an interesting fact:  India's middle class numbers about 300 million people.  That's equal to the population of the entire USA.  And what are they doing with their money?  They are travelling. 

India is experiencing solid growth in tourism and travel.  I've been working with groups from India since 2008.  They don't pay as well as Americans, and tipping is not part of their culture.  But, given the choice of having work or not making any money that day, I'll take the money and walk...holding up my umbrella to follow. 

On such a walking tour recently, our group was going up Broadway from The Battery to Wall Street.  Along the way are sidewalk-width plaques bearing the names of those who have had tickertape parades in their honor, through the years.  I pointed out the plaque honoring Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, whose parade was in 1965.  The result was really surprising: the entire group clustered around the plaque, speaking quickly in Hindi.  They were awestruck!  All the cameras came out, and photos and videos of the spot were made.  A woman brought her hands to her cheeks, staring down wide-eyed.  We stayed right there for a few minutes, until everyone got their photos in. 

Typically, an Indian tour company works with an American counterpart that is owned and operated by Indian nationals living here.  Most of my clients have been from Mumbai, but some came from Kalkota in the last group I worked with, last month.  The group before that had been in the Indian Air Force, so they'd been from around the country. 

Indians fly in from Kalkota, taking the Pacific route to the West Coast.  They spend a day in LA, a day in San Francisco, followed by a day in Las Vegas. ( I wonder what they think of America after having spent time in Las Vegas?)  They then fly to DC, spending a day touring there by bus.  The bus takes them up the coast to New Jersey, where they stay in inexpensive hotels in Newark, Secaucus or Jersey City.  

I am given the group leader's phone number, and meet them on Liberty Island.  Then I either escort them back to Liberty State Park and we bus to Manhattan, or the bus comes over--under, really--and we board at Battery Park.  

My guests want to see four specific things: the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, Central Park and the United Nations.  We usually turn up Trinity Place to see the WTC first.  Then up Church Street to Worth, east on Worth to Chatham Square and Chinatown.  East Broadway to Allen Street through the Lower East Side, and north on First Avenue.  I try to get to the photo stop at the UN before 5:00 PM, when they start taking down the flags.  India is about the 35th flagpole down the line (staringt with Albania and working down to Zimbabwe).  The Indian flag flies just south of the northern entrance of the UN, and they really get a charge out of seeing it! 

We disembark for a few minutes at Rockefeller Center.  By this time I've already told them of John D. Rockefeller Senior, and things that his immensely wealthy son, Junior, did for the city, such as the UN, The Cloisters, and Rockefeller Center.  We go to the plaque that holds Rockefeller's words about mankind.  We gaze across the skating rink and I tell them the story of Prometheus and Zeus behind him, about mankind's quest for fire and then for electricity, resulting in this center that trumpets the victory of worldwide communication.  The Indians know just what I'm talking about, because that victory of communication has paid for their trip here. 

The people know basic things about America, but ask a zillion questions about those basic facts, hoping I can fill them in.  A typical bus tour has the following among their questions:

Where are the robots that build cars?

About a thousand kilometers west of here, in Detroit.

Where does Rockefeller live now?

He is dead, but the Rockefeller family is still rich and still active. 

Why don't Americans speak Hindi?

We were conquered and settled by the English, who pretty much set the standard of language, though Americans come from every country and can speak many languages, if needed.  As more Indians move here, more Americans can speak Hindi. 

How do you bribe your police?

We buy things the police produce, such as hats or bumper stickers.  Those often induce police officers  to let people go for minor infractions.  But those who commit large crimes must go to trial.  There is no way to avoid that.  A billionaire who stole people's money is in jail now. 

Do you know any movie stars?

No, but I've carried a few on my pedicab, which you would call a "cycle-rickshaw." 

This spawns myriad questions about why a guide would pedal a cycle-rickshaw, which they see as a low-class occupation.  I tell them that I do tours of Central Park, and that the only ways to see the park without walking are by pedicab or by horse carriage.  Then I mention that my pedicab boasts a mountain bike frame, a differential, a hydraulic brake, 21 speeds and LED lights fitted into a Fiberglass body.  They come to appreciate this, since Indian pedicabs are all steel and have only one speed. 

Greenwich Village--which they show little interest in, BTW--is a very old, intricate neighborhood.  I explain further that I have a pedicab tour of the Village that buses are simply unable to do.  It's an advantage to use a pedicab there.  My guests marvel and shake the tops of their heads back and forth, which means they understand what I'm saying but don't necessarily agree with it. 

We leave Rockefeller Center and take a left through Times Square, on the way to my Empire State Building dropoff.  I tell them that Rockefeller Center was built as a center of the American radio and television industry, two decades after Times Square established itself as the center of America's stage industry.  The stage and television industries are often a springboard to the film industry.  They nod: it's the same over there. 

We'll hang a right on 33rd so they can see Madison Square Garden, and go around the block to 34th, for the Empire State Building dropoff. 


Vegetarianism is widespread in India.  When we get near the ESB I tell them of two nearby restaurants, Maui Tacos on Fifth at the dropoff point, and the more expensive Hangawi on East 32nd, where the staff wear traditional Korean costumes.  And, if they want South Asian food and are good walkers, there are several Indian restaurants clustered on Lexington near 28th Street. 

We part company either at or at the top of the Empire State.  There is no tipping, because tipping is not part of their culture.  The only people you pay "a little something extra" to are government officials.  It's a "Peace, out," with the word 'namaste,' which means 'peace.'

I hope that I've left them with a better understanding of what New York City is, and more particularly what America is.  They are part of the rising Indian middle class, and this won't be the last time they deal with Americans.  I really want to give them a fair first impression of us as a nation.  I'm always trying to hone my craft toward that end.  Indian tourism is rising, and they're coming to New York.  I can work with them, since they speak English.  I've been thinking recently of taking some Hindi lessons.  All of us guides had better learn a little Hindi, because more Indians are coming every year.  While they do speak English, I'm sure more complete understanding would come from our knowing at least a little Hindi.  It couldn't hurt. 

I bought an NYPD Bomb Squad T-shirt in the 1990s.  The back says, "IF YOU SEE ME RUNNING, TRY TO KEEP UP."   The Indians are beginning to run.  The rest of the world had better keep up.








Find my volunteer traveler advice posts online by typing "TourguideStan" into the NYC forum at Tripadvisor.com.  Find my Youtube posts about travel and about New York by typing that name in at Youtube.com. 

Best wishes,


Stan O'Connor

licensed sightseeing guide

http://www.oconnorgreentoursnyc.com/

member, Guide Association of NYC

member, NYC Pedicab Owner Association



http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k2787646-l17856626-Pedicab_tours_with_Stan_O_Conner-New_York_City_New_York.html#17856626




http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k2781942-l17771635-Pedicab_Tour_Great_Fun-New_York_City_New_York.html#17771635




http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k2845417-l18549496-Random_thoughts_on_our_trip_to_NYC-New_York_City_New_York.html#18549496

Hard Times

Last night, July 2, I worked from 5 PM to 11:30 PM, and made a total of seventy-five dollars. That's just about minimum wage, when you work it out. Some guys made less than I did. Some made more. Thursday night, I only made $20, a new low for a Thursday.

A friend I had not seen since last fall met me last night in Times Square. He had dropped out of pedicabbing, sold his "bike" and gotten a job in a hotel. But the work was part-time and pay was low. This summer he went to the guy who bought his bike and now he's renting it.

This friend had made $50 since 7 PM. It was now 11 PM, so he'd made $12 an hour doing what used to make $200 for a good driver, when the economy was good.

This year is like 2002: hordes of people in town, none of them with cash. They come to Times Square without knowing anything about it. I wait in front of the Brill Building, wanting to show them my Midtown Tour of Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Saint Patrick's. But they pass me by.

Mistrust of pedicabs is high, due to the guys who have offered a charge of some money amount for two people, then get them to the destination and say "Each," thus scamming them. So many scammers have preceded me that people now pretend I'm not there when hailing a ride. I have to dicker to get rides, and go cheap in order to make a living.

I wait at the corner by the Plaza Hotel, trying to get customers to take a tour of Central Park. But they don't trust me, since I haven't got either a double-decker bus or a horse. They don't know I have fifteen years of tourguiding under my belt, and can give them a GREAT tour. No, they'll go with a carriage, getting 1/4th the ride for 2/3rds the price.

Last night in Times Square, two unpleasant things happened. First, a young woman scolded a carriage driver who was parked behind me, calling a carriage horse "slave labor," and him a "slavedriver." Then when she got to me, I offered, "Good for you. Now prove that a man can give a better ride, by being my customer instead." She tried to ignore me, looking embarrased while walking on.

Second, a young woman had been texting while standing in the intersection I was trying to cross. I said, "That thing works on the sidewalk, right?" Her boyfriend then came off the curb and asked, "Did you take this job because you couldn't get anything else?" And he walked away as I answered, "No, this is a cool job. I've been doing it eight years." It was a few seconds before I realized he'd just insulted me. That really hurt, especially when I kept thinking of the miniscule amount of money I made. It was really tough.

I've been mentoring a fellow licensed guide/pedicab driver who is homeless. Yesterday he made $51. Recently I got him to call one of the double-decker companies and get started on getting regular work. It's my hope that he will get himself an apartment, or at least a share. He's not putting enough effort into it, though. The other day he said he'd taken the bus company's Brooklyn tour, but "hadn't been in the mood to listen." Now he has to take it again, or he just won't learn. If he doesn't learn, they won't hire him. The guy is smart, but isn't taking the necessary steps to improve his life.

Thinking about him, and about how poor life has become for pedicabbing over the past year, I've decided to take the necessary steps to improve my own life. I will apply for the double-deckers again, myself. I can't go on making such a small amount of money. Though double-decker work is rewarding in that you're helping people understand the city while they get acclimated and taken to the sites they want to visit, it's grueling. You bake in the sun, soak in the rain, freeze in the wind and snow. Someone will sit right behind you and pepper you with questions, which takes time away from the other 49 people on the bus.

Seven years I spent on double-deckers. I didn't want to go back to them, but this season is just killing me.

Help me avoid this fate. Take a private tour of Central Park, Midtown or Greenwich Village through www.oconnorgreentoursnyc.com
Hire me for your upcoming bus trip to Manhattan. It costs only $10 per passenger on a 20-seater bus, or $5 per passenger on a 50-seater bus, for a fantastic tour of Manhattan. I won't let you down.

Read my advice to NYC travelers at www.tripadvisor.com's New York City forum. Just search there for TourguideStan.

How to park a car in Manhattan for five days

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Thursday

Friday Saturday

Oh, yeah-- Saturday I took all this

stuff to storage in the Smart Car.

People make fun of them, but Smarts get into impossible on-street parking spaces. The photos above show parking spaces

that just don't exist for most motor vehicles.

It takes about $100 a month of premium fuel for about 800 miles, getting over 40 miles per gallon.

The dealership plays a loop of crash videos. And Smart USA

doesn't bother to advertise, since fuel-efficient cars are

easy to sell. Gas hogs have to be advertised heavily.

You can't take it off road or carry a lawnmower in the hatch.

But 60% of Americans live in cities, and the Smart is

a great city car for a couple without kids.

My car is two inches shorter than my bike!

TourguideStan

Take a bike or pedicab tour of Central Park or Greenwich Village at www.oconnorgreentoursnyc.com

Read my advice to travelers at www.TripAdvisor.com;

search for "TourguideStan"

Have a great day!

A NEW USE FOR A USED ITEM

This young lady was sitting at the Columbus Circle entrance of Central Park the other day. I came by after doing a pedicab tour of Central Park, and her outfit caught my eye. Now, some people are nondescript; others perhaps a bit more noticeable. Lisa VanArsdale was sitting there, sewing and scintillating. I mean it; 'scintillating' is the proper word for the way she sparkled in the sunlight. She was the most outstanding person sitting along the marble benches that day.

Some were sitting there talking. Some listened to the jazz trio that plays for tips. Lisa, though, was making trash into treasure with a little finger work.

Here she is, sewing.

Lisa's in college for art & design, and has been sewing since highschool, where she had made a dress from Starburst wrappers and duct tape!

I asked what she thought of the Molly Ringwald character in the film, Pretty In Pink. She said she was totally sympatico. In the 1986 film, Ringwald's character created a prom dress out of a 1966 prom dress and a few additions.

She said that a friend had bought her a Capri Sun purse, which eventually inspired her to sew a few pouches together into more of them.
And the reason she's so scintillating? Look closely at the dress she's modeling. It dazzles in the sunshine because it's all Capri Sun pouches. What is it, a "Capri Sun Dress?" A "Capri Sun Sundress?"

Major streets in residential areas around New York City have a litter problem. The most visible things in the litter piles are Capri Sun and other single-drink pouches. They're sold at small stores and supermarkets, often near the counter where someone might impulsively purchase a brightly-colored, fruit-flavored little drink, when bringing items to be bagged. The pouch is quickly emptied, since there's not much inside it. And then it's tossed, all too often. Aluminized Mylar drink pouches become little eyesores once they hit the streets, because they glitter in the sunshine and can lay there for years. They're flashy, glinty little reminders of people's carelessness.

Lisa noticed littered Capri Sun and other drink-pouch containers in the streets of her neighborhood, and challenged herself: what could she make of these?
First came the handbag, and then wristlets, shower totes, wallets and backpacks. And she's made a shoe rack and laundry hamper for
her own use.

Here's a handbag, all set to go, with a price tag and a

story card already tied on with a sewing thread.

Don't these bags look fun?

Lisa VanArsdale hasn't got a web site yet, but can be reached as cabaretgirl221@yahoo.com. She's on FaceBook as Lisa Mildred VanArsdale. She'd like you to write, whether you're interested in ordering a bag or clothing item made of recycled drink pouches, or if you have used drink pouches you'd love to get rid of. They're hard to recycle, since they're not bottles, they're not cans, they're not metal and they're also not - exactly - plastic. But now they can be couture! Green usage! Good for her!

To find out how to order a tour of New York on foot for groups, on buses for larger groups, or on a bike or pedicab for singles and couples--especially those with limited mobility--, visit www.oconnorgreentoursnyc.com

My YouTube page is TourguideStan.

My volunteer work:

Free pedicab rides for wounded vets, through www.hainyc.org.

And online volunteerism, giving travel/tourism advice at www.tripadvisor.com's Forum page for "New York City New York," where my name is TourguideStan.

Sasha & Nathan's Pedicab Wedding, 5/21/10

A PEDICAB WEDDING

Daisy, Daisy

Give me your answer, do.

I'm half crazy

All for the love of you.

It won't be a stylish marriage.

I can't afford a carriage.

But you'll look sweet

Upon the seat

Of a bicycle built for two.

This email came in mid-April:

"We are looking for a creative way to transport our families from City Hall to the North Cove Marina on May 21. Along with transportation we thought it would be great to get one of your famous tours of Downtown, if possible."

It turned out that this was to be a wedding ride. They wanted four pedicabs with sightseeing guides as drivers. I got busy, having five weeks to prepare.

The clients wanted a two-hour tour on pedicabs decorated with flowers, streamers and "Just Married" balloons. One that would allow them time to hop out for photos at their favorite downtown spots. I had to:

1. Get three other drivers who could individually give tours, would be willing to leave their midtown garages and pedal downtown for 45 minutes before starting, and back up after finishing. Therefore they had to be experienced drivers and tourguides. I had to offer them good money to get them out of Midtown, where most of us work.

2. Get at least one of these drivers to wear a suit and tie.

3. Provide the clients with a driver who speaks Russian. (This would be a typical New York City wedding in that she's Russian and he's English. My in-laws were from Tokyo and Nuremburg. My son is Irish-Chinese.)

4. Find sources for flowers, balloons and streamers downtown, because you can't put eight inflated Mylar balloons in the Smart Car and drive it there.

5. Design a tour of TriBeCa, The Financial District, Chinatown and The Battery that would both take in the clients' photo stops, and be exactly two hours long.

No problem. ...Right?


With over 400 pedicab drivers currently working in Manhattan, and with about a dozen of them licensed as sightseeing guides, I thought it'd be easy to get three others. But I was wrong. My first thought was to hire my friend Aaron The Tourguide, who's licensed to drive a pedicab and to give tours. But he was scheduled, as it turns out, to play in a tennis tournament in Maine that week.

A friend owns a pedicab company with five drivers, four of whom are licensed guides, so I asked him. But it seemed he had an event the same day and needed his drivers for that. So I had to come up with other guides. I offered the job to one guide who turned me down.

Okay, now I was beginning to worry.


I considered the matter for a couple of weeks, while mentally mapping a tour route. I tend to design tours with too much packed into them, and then cut segments as needed, editing the remainder together, like cutting-and-pasting. I used to be a copy editor. Now I edit tour routes.


It's an art that few dozen New Yorkers can do. You have to know the city really well, be able to write point-to-point travel for buses, cars, bikes or foot travel, and work the whole thing into a timeframe. What fun!


My first thought was to go north to Chinatown. Say, up Mulberry to Grand. Then we could make a stop in Little Italy for photos, take Grand to Bowery and go south to Chatham Square, doubling back to make a stop in Chinatown. This loop would take 10 to 20 minutes and provide us with two photo ops showing two distinct parts of the city.


Sasha and Nathan texted me a week before the wedding that they'd soon have definite locations they wanted photos at. Two nights later they emailed that they wanted photos at The Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street, and at the Yu Yu Yang sculpture farther NE on Water. They also wanted a photo stop north of the Brooklyn Bridge.


I replied with a tentative route for them to take a look at. Then I sent Nathan an email with links to balloon bouquets from The Balloon Saloon - http://www.balloonsaloon.com/ - which is on West Broadway at Duane. He went for the regular round ones that say JUST MARRIED on them.


I put out word on a driver listserv that I was organizing a ride that took from around 11:30 to 4 PM and needed three drivers who could do a tour of downtown, dress well, and/or speak Russian. This ride would pay $150 per pedicab. Many guys responded. One guy responded loudly, in multiple emails and texts, over the course of the next three days. He offered to wear, instead of a suit or a tie, his white Spandex shorts and top. He cajoled me and insulted other drivers in those messages. I don't need such troublemakers.


After much consideration I chose drivers Tim and Jordan, who are guides, and Daniyar, who is not a guide but does speak Russian. Jordan and Tim are excellent tourguides; I've done double tours of Central Park with each of them. And I've been mentoring Daniyar (Danny), who hails from Khazakstan. He's inquisitive and has an upbeat personality. He's always asking me how to better express himself in English. He's a good kid. He's been wanting to learn more about New York, and I thought this would provide a great opportunity.


With three days to go, I wrote up a document--of four pages in 12-point--being the tour route, with turns and stops. Then I emailed it to the other three drivers, with instructions to print and study the info. Tim's girlfriend took the time to email me a turn sheet, replete with walking-tour times from stop to stop. I called to thank her, and we chatted back and forth about times. She's a guide, too. She's really smart. Tim's lucky to have her.

DECORATING

Here is Danny attaching two bouquets of pink roses to the sides of his 'cab. He had already attached some balloons before driving downtown. We furiously decorated, with just a few minutes to spare. I had arrived last on the scene, with four rolls of crepe paper and eight bouquets of pink and purple flowers, at 12:10.

THE ARRIVAL

The Office of the City Clerk has been moved from the Municipal Building to the Louis Lefkowitz Building, on the corner of Worth & Centre. This was done in 2009 to improve the "wedding experience" of couples who wanted to get married in Manhattan. We four pedicabs pulled up at 12:30, to the courthouse plaza across Worth from where Sasha and Nathan had just wed.
This photo features the bride, Sasha, and her mother. Behind them is the wedding photographer. And just out of sight is the courthouse where they staged Kris Kringle's hearing in the film, Miracle On 34th Street.

THE DEPARTURE
Sasha and Nathan are in front, in my blue pedicab, surrounded by streamers and balloons, and flanked by a dozen pink roses to each side of them. Daniyar, who speaks Russian, drives the second 'cab with Sasha's Russian-speaking mother in it. Tim has the third vehicle. It doesn't show in this photo, but he's wearing a tuxedo-top biking jersey, with a spoke wrench lapel pin! Jordan brings up the rear, in his red baseball cap. You can't see me, but I'm wearing a suit jacket, white button-down shirt, print necktie...Bermuda shorts, black socks and sandals. Atop the melange is a sun hat. I am a fashion plate. The temperature is about 85.

WE ATTRACT ADMIRERS

The parade started eastbound on Worth, into Chinatown. The first hurdle was that two firetrucks were in the way, a block down on Catherine Street. The guests disembarked for a moment, and we walked the bikes around the fire trucks on the narrow Chinatown street.

As we went, the four gaily-decorated pedicabs with well-dressed riders attracted a good deal of attention. Here are five tourists with five cameras, wishing Sasha & Nathan well.
Oh, and that tour bus back there? In nearly every tour bus that passed us in the next two hours, drivers honked, tourguides boomed approval and congrats over their speakers, and passengers applauded!

We stopped in the background area under the highway for some shots flanked by the Brooklyn Bridge. A photo from that set is the first thing you saw in this blog.

We went through South Street Seaport, then up Maiden Lane to Water Street and our second stop, this Yu Yu Yang sculpture at Water & Pine.

The wedding couple are playing in the sculpture. Don't they look great?

From here the wedding party walked to the Elevated Acre, where they were picked up and taken to the next several stops on the tour.

We drove up to Broad Street and stopped in front of Fraunces Tavern. I gave the story of the old place, and then we cruised past the National Association of Securities Dealers - Automated Quotes, or The NASDAQ. This photo was taken in their reflective blue wall. You know your marriage will be a success if the NASDAQ is in it from the start.

Their last photo stop was at The Brooklyn Bridge. I took a photo with Sasha's camera, then another with my own. Danny took one with Sasha's mother's. And dozens of people passing by got out their own cameras, took their own photos, applauded and offered best wishes. Sasha and Nathan were New York celebrities.

DENOUEMENT

The couple were delighted with their wedding tour. It finished in Battery Park City, right on time. We'd gone through Chinatown, Sailortown, South Street Seaport, The Financial District, The Brooklyn Bridge, and City Hall. The drivers complimented me for choosing a tour route that was flat, without any hills. The wedding ride was a sensation. I'm very pleased with the success as I write this. Everything went perfectly.

Best wishes,

TourguideStan

licensed sightseeing guide

www.oconnorgreentoursnyc.com

stanoconnor@gmail.com

Very windy on Saturday

Yesterday, May 8, was a really windy day. The sign on my fender skirt blew off. I lost my chin-strapped sun hat three times, and my glasses once. Things were blowing around, all over town. The west wind was so fierce that it was difficult to carry people westbound on my pedicab, on the west side.

One of the things that blew away last night was the pedicab driver license of Onur Altintas. I found it at the corner of 49th & Broadway while chasing my hat! The license is expired. Why was he still driving with an expired license? Did he replace it and give or sell it to someone else, for them to use illegally? Was he using it because he couldn't afford $35 to renew for the coming year?

My dilemma was, should I throw the license away, keep it, or find him and give it back to him? My decision stems from the history of pedicabbing in the eight years since I started. In 2002 there were about 75 pedicab drivers citywide. One was Algerian, one French, one Ecuadorean and one Canadian. All the rest were Americans. All were licensed drivers, and all had insurance.

Two Turk nationals found that the pedicab business in NYC was unregulated and, therefore, ripe for cheating. They bought dozens of pedicabs each, and advertised in Turkey for drivers to come to NYC and make money. And they ran uninsured , unlit pedicabs driven by unlicensed drivers, all over midtown. The number of pedicabs grew, and problems were noticed. Guys were driving the wrong way. Guys were driving on sidewalks. Guys didn't have a clue where Penn Station was.

The City finally regulated our business in November of 2009. By that time, well over a thousand pedicab drivers from Turkey and Central Asia were taking business away from me, a licensed driver who'd spent $2000 a year on insurance, and who had good lights. In anticipation of the deadline, hundreds of defective pedicabs were offered for sale on Craigslist. Hundreds of drivers were scrambling to get green cards for US residency, NYS driver licenses, or fake IDs.

When the smoke cleared on 9/21/09, there were about 325 licensed pedicab drivers and over 900 registered 'cabs. These were just the ones that passed inspection. This means that at least that number of pedicabs had been driven daily. Many, many more had failed inspection. I realized that I had been competing for business with around 700 to 800 illegals.

Sgt. Andy Lopez of Midtown North NYPD had said to me that pedicab licenses are easy to fake. Cops need to check licenses by had to make sure they're real. A cop checked mine in February, excusing himself by saying that there were many fake licenses out there.

My guess is that Onur Altintas had a real license, but that someone else has been using it, because the odds of being stopped and checked by a cop are fairly slim. And now I have his expired license. What should I do?

Last night was May 8. The license expired on April 30th, a week and a day ago. It clearly was lost last night, so it was used as recently as last night. For all I know, it's been passed to someone else, who is competing with me by using Onur's expired license. That's a good reason for me to protect my business.

I'm keeping the license. Maybe I'll throw it away.
TourguideStan