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One of the biggest icons of New York City is the yellow Taxicab. They are licensed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission but they are run by private companies. There are more than 13,000 taxis running the city each day and they sure are busy. For-hire vehicles is big business in the Big Apple and its surrounding neighborhoods.  The first official cab company opened in 1907 as the New York City Taxicab Company. They brought in 600 gasoline powered vehicles from the country of France. They were painted green and red. In the 1920s, Morris Markin started the Checkered Cab Manufacturing Company which brought the famous yellow and black taxis to the city. In the 1930s, during the depressions is were the competition for business got interesting. The politics got a little racy when the city was thinking about creating a monopoly on taxi companies. The vehicles were not in good condition and were a bit dangerous because the private companies were not able to afford the maintenance. The city thought they could step in but that would end quickly when there were accusations of a bribe offered to the Mayor from the largest taxi company. It was mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia who created the biggest action on the matter in 1937. He signed the Haas Act which introduced the medallion system and taxi licensing that is still used today. The taxi cabs have endured all of the crazy life that the city has over many years including higher crime rate that started in the 60s. That is when many of the cabs were equipped with security partitions between driver and passengers. Visitors of the city can always count on a taxi to be waiting outside there   Classy hotel  ready to take them to all of the great sights to see. The locals can usually count on catching a cab to get to their business meeting or to a concert in Central Park. Everyone has to put in their budget enough money to get around the city in a cab. One can catch up on taxi industry news as well as reserve a cab on the home pages of each company such as the NYC Taxi or for larger parties one may have to switch to a limo with companies like NYC Royal Limo were rolling in limo style is still an icon of New York City.