New York calls out discrimination by drivers on Asian Americans

New York City officials have spoken out against any prejudice by taxi, limousine and ride-share service drivers about picking up passengers over novel coronavirus fears.

The city is concerned about reports of bias by drivers in which Chinese and other Asian passengers are being avoided.

"If I drop off somebody in Flushing, I deactivate the app," an Uber driver told the New York Post newspaper about a Queens neighborhood with a large Chinese population.

"I don't know who has it. ... I worry for myself, my family and my passengers. I feel bad about it, but when I see Chinese passengers, I just go," the driver said.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter over the weekend: "This is OUTRAGEOUS. Let me be perfectly clear: There WILL be consequences for anyone caught taking part in this kind of cruel racial profiling. To our Asian-American community: Your city has your back and this discrimination will NOT be tolerated."

Taxi & Limousine Commission Commissioner Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk said anyone who has experienced a problem can call the city's 311 help line. TLC drivers can be fined $500 if they have been found to discriminate against passengers.

"Not in our city. Fare refusal is illegal－we won't stand for discrimination against our Asian-American community," she said in a tweet. "Fear is the enemy, not our neighbors."

While there may be some instances of Chinese passengers being shunned, there are drivers who have been welcoming.

'Praying in my car'

A Chinese national working in New York told China Daily how an Uber driver was happy to take him, his father-in-law and wife from a cardiology clinic in Flushing to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on Sunday.

"After knowing that we were Chinese, he began immediately to praise the measures that the Chinese government has taken to control the coronavirus, noting that China locked down big cities and suffered short-term economic loss to stop the virus from spreading to the whole country and beyond its borders," the rider said. "He showed us respect and displayed no discrimination at all. He even stopped on the highway to help fix my father-in-law's safety belt."

The passenger added: "He even gave a thumbs-up for Chinese doctors and nurses, saying they are really bold men and women. He later told us that one of his sons was studying in Beijing-based Capital Medical School and is now a doctor in Flushing."

The driver, in his 60s, said: "All Pakistani people are praying for China, like me. They are praying in mosques, they are praying at home, and I am sometimes praying in my car."

Other US metropolitan areas have seen instances of discrimination against Asian passengers.

On Feb 2, Lilian Wang attempted to get into a Lyft ride-share at San Francisco International Airport, but the driver refused to open the door, according to CNBC.

Wang, a technology worker, said the driver let her in the car only after a Caucasian friend showed up.

A spokeswoman for Lyft told the San Francisco Chronicle on Feb 4 that the company had banned the driver.

Still, as with any health scare, some drivers have decided to look out for themselves.

An Uber driver in San Francisco told thedailybeast.com in a Feb 6 report that he believed the company should have given drivers more guidance about any coronavirus threat.