Checker cabs and double decker buses

The Daily News put together an Ode to the NYC taxi in honor of it's 100th anniversary...

Here i am sitting in a somewhat cramped back seat of a modern NYC taxi. I have my own AC controls, a credit card swiper, a GPS locater and television. Its a far cry from my memories of the huge tank like checker cabs i grew up with that had so much room that you had a bunch of feet between your toes and the divider. A large gadget-less void that was big enough for a potential nose dive if the cab stopped short. especially since there were no seat belts back then to stop your body from trying to steal home base. I remember the huge cavernous space and high, nearly vaulted roofs of those old tanks very fondly. I am, of course, happy that AC is now standard in cabs. especially considering that it is currently 95 and humid. back then there was no escape from that heat, even if you stuck you head out the window while the car was in motion. but i really miss those fold out seats to accommodate 6 people or just a mom and her squirrelly son. The fold out seats weren't big or comfy by any stretch. But i loved sitting in them and facing my mom, dad, or sister and making faces at them as i watched the city blocks recede in the rear window.

I also remember a lot of arguing about how to get places and how much it should cost with the drivers. But maybe that was brought about by feisty parents. i think it was also due to a lack of standard when it came to meters and how often they were faulty or broken. They used to be mechanical so the driver would flip down a lever and the thing would start ticking to time and distance (hopefully). Its funny how nowadays i don't even consider that the meter might be over charging. Back then my dad definitely did. I have no less then 5 separate memories of fights erupting between dad and driver. my dad's a rather big guy who wrestled in college so he was a very intimidating guy in a fight. Unless, of course, if the taxi driver was ready and grabbed a tire iron. When that happened my dad's ability to duck and weave suddenly displayed itself. He was fast! Ahh, the good ol' days.

Another fond memory about nyc transportation was the old double decker buses. They were bigger then the ones in London and riding in them gave me an eagle eye view of the neighborhood. I loved those buses so much that i made my mom or dad wait for one to come. As they got removed from service one by one, those waits starting getting more and more fruitless. I guess that was one of my earliest experiences with the odd sensation that "progress" in NYC doesn't necessarily mean "change for the better".