Tuesday, June 7, 2011  When taxis are too cheap  As I wrote last
month, taxi service has "an availability problem in Manhattan at
peak periods. During rush hour in the rain you can stand for a
long time, and fights over taxis are not uncommon." Whenever you
have a set price for something regardless of supply and demand,
you're going to get gluts and shortages, and there are shortages
at peak times in Manhattan.  It's not always your typical rush
hour. Back in the 90s, the Tuesday Night Skate would often ride
up Sixth Avenue around 10-11PM, and when we got to the
Rockefeller Center area there were always people standing with
their hands raised. At first I thought they were giving us high
fives, but they ignored me when I got closer. Eventually I
realized that they were hailing cabs. There were quite a few of
them, and I think they had just gotten out of Broadway theaters
or Radio City Music Hall. You see the same scene on Bleecker
Street, or anywhere there's evening entertainment.  Some people
have opted out o