🚖🚪 NYC Taxi Medallion Debt Restructuring Program Ending
Historic Medallion Relief Programs (MRP) set to end in April. Debt restructuring saved many yellow cab owner-operators from bankruptcy. Release of new TLC Plates undid a lot of progress made under MRP
$440 million+ NYC taxi medallion debt has been forgiven under Medallion Relief Programs (MRP(+))
It remains unclear why 4,000+ yellow cabs are still inactive
MRP ending should provide more clarity on why so many taxi medallions remain inactive and might cause increase in medallion foreclosures
Recent release of ~10,000 *new* TLC Plates was major misstep by regulator, undoing a lot of progress taxi industry achieved under MRPs
In February 2020, one month prior to pandemic, there were 11,427 working medallions (of 13,587 issued). Based on latest TLC data (December 2023) there are 9,062 active medallions or ~20% fewer active yellow cabs
TLC’s March 2024 FHV License Review will be a major inflection point for NYC taxi medallion market
The NYC TLC announced the historic pandemic-era taxi medallion debt relief programs, known as the MRP 1 and MRP+, are set to close by April 30th.

🤝 Quick History: MRP(+)
The final taxi medallion debt relief (MRP+) agreement was reached in November 2021 (implemented in September 2022) and built upon the existing Medallion Relief Program (MRP 1). Marblegate, the largest NYC taxi medallion lender, agreed to restructure outstanding medallion loans to a principal balance of $200,000 ($170,000 post one-time $30,000 government grant payment). Other taxi medallion lenders also agreed to participate in the MRP+ program, while others, notably Minnesota-based OSP, were initially hesitant.
Remember, the average outstanding medallion debt for a driver-owner was reported to have been ~$500,000 at the time of the deal, so that implied an average ~$300,000 debt relief or 60% of the average total debt a driver owed! The City then agreed to make a $30,000 payment (grant) to the participating MRP+ lender (i.e., Marblegate), which resulted in a $170,000 City-guaranteed loan.
To be clear, under this deal, the City (read: taxpayer) would guarantee the principal and interest for medallion loans held by Marblegate and other participating lenders, if a driver defaulted on a MRP+ restructured loan.
The terms of the newly restructured medallion loans were:
5% interest rate
20-year, fully amortizing term
Debt service payments cap of $1,122 per month 💵
Notably involved in helping push the MRP+ forward was current U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Of note, Senator Schumer’s wife Iris Weinshall, the daughter of a yellow cab driver, used to be a TLC Commissioner (not the Chair, but on the TLC Board) and the City’s former DOT Commissioner.

“The medallion debt crisis has gone on for years, taking lives and livelihoods. I commend Mayor de Blasio for his leadership, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance for their steadfast advocacy, and Marblegate for their good-faith effort to forge a workable solution. Together, we will bring this ongoing situation to a just resolution for the thousands of cabbies who work every day to serve this City.”
- U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer
“Today’s agreement is a win for taxis, which are a critical piece of New York City infrastructure. It is also a testament to Ms. Desai [of NYTWA] and the many taxi drivers who have been tenacious advocates and who, along with the de Blasio Administration and Senator Schumer, have delivered meaningful debt forgiveness and a sizable reduction in drivers’ monthly loan payments.”
- Andrew Milgram, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Marblegate Asset Management
The MRP programs essentially saved, at least temporarily, many smaller, deeply indebted taxi medallion owners. Remember, the MRP programs were only available to those who owned six or fewer taxi medallions. A few months ago, we actually spoke to a long time yellow cab driver who participated in the MRP+ program, whose loan was being serviced by Field Point (implying a Marblegate controlled loan). He said he had ~$350,000 of medallion debt reduced to ~$170,000 and his payments capped at $1,100, which aligned with the publicly announced deal structure.
Interestingly, the driver did mention that a downside of the debt relief, while definitely welcome, was he now faced a one-time tax bill on the forgiven debt. In simple terms the ~$180,000 of debt forgiveness was treated as taxable income. We actually mentioned this issue and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) even brought this up to the U.S. Congress.
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Last TLC Update On MRP
Although the TLC recently published (late) the required Office of Financial Stability (OFS) report for the yellow cab industry, it was light on meaningful details about the progress of the MRP programs. However, in October 2023 City Council testimony, the TLC’s Ryan Wanttaja, then TLC’s First Deputy Commissioner (now General Counsel of NYC DOT), and Edward Wilton, CFO/Deputy Commissioner of Finance at TLC, gave some specific insights into the the progress of the MRPs.
The summary below relates to testimony regarding the taxi medallion relief programs (MRP 1 and MRP+) presented to NYC Council on October 13, 2023.
$445 million of debt relief has been granted to smaller taxi medallion owners
$58 million from MRP 1, $387 million from MRP+
1,879 owners, representing 2,258 medallions have participated in MRP programs (i.e., taxi medallion owners with 6 or fewer medallions were only allowed to participate)
2,001 medallions owners have applied and MRP+ process currently takes about 12 weeks to complete from start to finish
Later on, TLC states 2,900 medallions (different from individuals) have been serviced since the inception of Owner/Driver Resource Center (ODRC) in 2020
16% of taxi medallion loans are more than 90 days overdue
21% are generally delinquent (loan > 30 days past due), which represents ~400 medallions (i.e., implies 2,000 active medallion-related loan benchmark?)
~800 taxi medallion loans still need to be restructured according to NYTWA, but their lenders have not signed up
Real TLC & City Achievement
TLC Chair David Do, and his team, should get a lot of credit for doing an excellent job 👏 of managing the MRPs and Owner/Driver Resource Center (ODRC). Over $440+ million of debt relief for ~2,000 taxi medallion owners, who own six or fewer taxi medallions, has been delivered.
This is an incredible achievement ✅. Let’s give TLC credit where it is due.
It’s also a great example of the TLC, City government, Federal government, drivers, advocates and private industry (lenders, investors, fleets) working together to agree to and push through a complex deal with a lot of different stakeholders.
Future Of NYC Yellow Cab
However, do not mistake good progress with resolution. The taxi medallion market is still in crisis. The TLC told City Council in October (see video above) that 16% of taxi medallion loans are more than 90 days delinquent and 21% are generally delinquent (loan > 30 days past due). The OFS report makes no mention of these stats or provide details, although TLC seems to have the information at hand.
TLC’s OFS report should have been a lot more detailed, especially given its covering 2021 and 2022. Setting aside criticism about submitting these reports on time, what’s more concerning is how policies, that clearly impact the yellow cab industry, were, and are, being implemented when the TLC doesn’t seem to fully understand the state of taxi medallion market. For example, one would think before the TLC issued a single *new* FHV License (TLC Plate), the regulator would want to fully understand the financial health of the medallion market? Or why 4,000+ taxi medallions are STILL not active? 🤷
The TLC actually admits in the OFS report that it still doesn’t fully understand the taxi medallion market and is working on it 🤔. That’s fine, but again, how is policy being made if one doesn’t understand such a critical part of the NYC for-hire vehicle market? Wasn’t the point of creating OFS to serve as a check on TLC policymaking? Reminding the regulator to track the financial health of yellow cab driver-owners much more closely, before creating policy that could significantly impact them?
“The financial disclosure requirement went into effect in 2022 for calendar year 2021. The data submitted by many medallion owners in 2022 and in 2023 is not reliable at this time and TLC is continuing to refine the data collection process to get a deeper understanding of taxi economics…
…TLC is working on obtaining a comprehensive picture of the debt situation across all 13,587 taxi medallions. Working directly with medallion owners gives TLC the opportunity to gather personal financial data that is not publicly available.”
- TLC Office of Financial Stability Annual Report (2021 & 2022)
Delivering a 17 slide presentation, one year late, with no real recommendations and benchmarking everything against all-time low 2020 taxi fare box figures, does not instill a lot of confidence. Again, TLC Chair Do has a history of failing to show he is doing the proper homework, before implementing policy. This is not a one-off now, this is clearly an observable habit and defining characteristic of his Commission.
Build Me Up, To Let Me Down
The TLC, unfortunately, undid a lot of the goodwill built up on the back of the successful implementation of the MRP/MRP+. From releasing 1,000 new TLC-plates in March 2023 to the SHL Pilot that (re)issued 2,500 additional ex-central Manhattan TLC-plates in May 2023 to allowing an additional ~10,000 new TLC-plated vehicles at the end of 2023. In other words, pushing policy that is set to add over 11,000 more NYC for-hire vehicles, when you don’t truly have an understanding of why 4,000+ yellow cabs are inactive, doesn’t make sense.
“We respect you, we’ve done good work together on the medallion-debt forgiveness, on the raise…But you, sir, you’re wiping all that good away right now…Adding 2,500 new cars, on top of the 1,000 that they just added with electric vehicles, that is a significant increase in this industry when ridership is still down by 30%” from 2019.”
- NYTWA President Bhairavi Desai speaking to NYC TLC Chair David Do after the TLC Commission Board approved the SHL Pilot (Source: THE CITY)
Prior to the pandemic, in February 2020, there were 11,427 active medallions out of a total 13,587 medallions issued. Those 11,427 medallions were servicing 6.3 million trips per month in February 2020. As of December 2023, there are 9,062 active medallions servicing 3.4 million monthly trips. If the goal is to make all taxi medallions active again, what would you expect yellow cab driver earnings to be…today? If you add 11,000+ more FHVs, how would it impact those earnings? This is TLC 101.

March 2024 FHV License Review & NYTWA Case
4,000+ yellow cabs are not active, WHY? We’ve waited far too long for the TLC to provide this answer, especially when they continue to add more TLC plates to NYC streets. The end of the MRP programs will probably help everyone get closer to answering that question. Whatever foreclosures might have been delayed will now likely happen as the MRPs expire.
We want to be clear, the main criticism here is that if the regulator does not know the answer to the above question, they cannot make the decision to add more TLC Plates to NYC streets. It simply doesn’t make any sense and more importantly it risks causing the taxi medallion market to collapse. We’re not being hyperbolic, look at the data above, speak to yellow cab drivers - it’s obvious.
NYTWA’s November lawsuit likely saved the taxi medallion market, at least temporarily, from total collapse by stopping the full EV exemption to the TLC Plate Cap. Now, as we wait for the TLC to issue its March 2024 FHV License Review and a New York State Supreme Court Judge to then further assess the TLC’s shock reinstatement of the EV exemption to the TLC Plate Cap, the iconic, 86 year-old NYC yellow taxi medallion industry is stopped at an existential crossroads.
Will Mayor Eric Adams, Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi and TLC Chair David Do let the NYC taxi die, after helping save it?
Could we see U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, or even US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (a/k/a AOC), get involved again?
This publication’s opinion is quite clear, no more *new* TLC Plates, until trip demand justifies the addition of more for-hire vehicles and the yellow cab industry recovers.
We don’t think this is a radical opinion.
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by emailing us at info@automarketplace.com.
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Do you know how the TLC collects the information regarding working driver and working cars? Is it electronically collected based on meters in the car???
Mediation owners don't want to participate in this program becouse they still have to pay money, and when till tlc issue more plates bussnes will die, it's better to file bankruptcy then survive in such industry when they do what they want