I rolled toward the Hawthorne station this morning, and saw a sweet and shiny Lincoln Town Car-type vehicle pulling out of the lot and onto Elwood.
A moment later, I saw a town Fire Safety truck next to the station house, and a pair of town employees putting in the new bike rack!! cleaning out the old building, including scraping the MOUNT PLEASANT TAXI letters from the front window.
I was about to shoot a photo when a man approached me. He was about 30 and wore a striped, pressed shirt and khakis. His hair was brown and spiky.
“Hello, sir,” he said. “I’m from Hawthorne Taxi. We just moved in here. Now you don’t have to go clunking around in those beat-up old taxis anymore.”
He gave me a business card. He told me Mount Pleasant Taxi moved, not across the tracks to Broadway as they said they’d do, but over onto Marble Avenue.
The man’s name was Val.
Not everyone was thrilled to make his acquaintance this morning at Hawthorne station. Writes “James”:
I hope this situation of the taxi companies assaulting commuters on their way to the platform is resolved quickly. That was obnoxious this morning. I hate the old company but, at least I could walk to the train with out being bothered.
Val certainly didn’t seem to be assaulting anyone, at least in my interaction with him. Can’t fault a guy for trying to drum up business for a new venture.
I’ll call later to see if they plan to move into the old station house, which would certainly cause problems with some of the ideas (coffee shop, restaurant, dry cleaners) the town–and Mount Pleasant Today–is kicking around for the vacated space.
UPDATE: Val Balidemaj says Hawthorne Taxi & Car Service will indeed bid on the station house digs once the town completes its renovation. “That’s our goal, to end up in the house,” he said.
Val says he’s from the Bronx but has been working in the mid-Westchester region for years.
Hawthorne Taxi is a division of Pleasantville Taxi & Car Service.
According to the biz card, it’s only six bucks for a ride within two miles of the station. A ride a mile from the station used to cost me like $8 with Mount Pleasant Taxi–in a beat-up old clunker, no less.
Mixed feelings about another cab company going in there but their spruced up appearance gives me hope for them being decent neighbors. Maybe the junk storage will become something more interesting?
Oddly, over in NJ this morning, commuters were assaulted with cheer and handshakes, by one of the local politicians passing out flyers, shaking hands, and reminding folks to vote in the local election next Tuesday.
Just found your website and am sort of shocked at the amount of misinformation that you have printed. Having known many of the former employees and been a user of their service on many a night when I was incapable of driving myself home I was always greatful to find them there. The new owner of the new company has been struggling to distance herself from the former company…all her cars are licensed by the TLC of Westchester as are all the drivers…they did not go out of business as has been told to many of their existing customers by some folks…and in today’s economy to start a business is indeed a chance to take but the owner and her husband feel that having a phone number that has been a taxi for more than 60 years is certainly a chance worth taking. As she reiterated to me on several occasions…we have never turned our nose up on anyone who needs a ride…even drunks who live in Thornwood…they are lawyers, teachers, nurses and bankers and they pay taxes in the town just like every one else. Why would we discriminate against someone who has made the wise choice of not drinking and driving…Give the new Cross Roads Taxi a break…I’m sure that Lisa, the owner, would be more than happy to explain to you what the new name means…it has nothing to do with the other side of the tracks in Hawthorne. I’m pretty sure that she’d be happy to tell you what she’s gone through in order to be compliant with everyone’s wishes in order to be a business in this town of ours where everyone still seems to mind everyone’s business but their own. I will be letting her see this response…because in my opinion she deserves a little more respect than what she’s been given.