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City Cracks Down on Dollar Vans


April 14, 2014 | Andy Cush

Getting a cheap ride down Atlantic or Flatbush Avenue may get more difficult, as the NYPD is aggressively going after dollar vans, those unlicensed commuter vehicles that whip up and down Brooklyn’s main drags. The community group Equality for Flatbush is fighting back. “Most drivers are Caribbean or people of color,” Imani Henry, an organizer with the group, told Brooklyn Paper“This is their income and people are trying to feed their families.”

Brian Laffey, community affairs officer at the NYPD’s 78th Precinct in Prospect Heights, which has spearheaded the anti-van initiative, said the department wants “to send a message that they’re not safe.” True, perhaps, but the legal alternative can be pretty spotty too.

(Photo: @automotocycle)