Shop NYC Top

To any non-NYC local who may be seeing this thread: DO NOT accept rides from people who approach you at arrival offering uber/taxi service. Go to the airport taxi stand right ourside of the terminal or order a rideshare directly through the apps. You are going to get scammed otherwise.

I flew home into LGA this morning and couldn’t believe how bad it was with these guys inside the terminal, walking around baggage claim, both in terms of their numbers and how loud/aggressively they were approaching people about rides. You always see them at the airports but they were exceptionally present and persistent. I sat and watched for a while, waiting for my bag, and noticed they all seemed to be coordinating with one another, creating a strategic net around baggage claims to catch people at multiple points as they come of the escalators or try to leave.

I’ve genuinely never seen it this bad. Non-security airport staff were trying to tell them to buzz off and travelers to ignore them on their way to help people with bags or maintenance. They looked exasperated, too. Then I saw the drivers quickly disappear outside; security was finally walking over but it was one dude vs a bunch of them, so eventually they came back over when they felt security wasn’t looking anymore.

I finally got really annoyed when one was trying to target me after blowing off an airport worker, so I yelled back “you’re not supposed to be here,” loud enough for the tourists around me to hear. He was not happy. Then, on my way out, they flocked me and a confused looking 20 something. He was about to take them up on it but I walked next to him and told to order a rideshare directly or get a taxi from the stand instead. Couple of the drivers had some choice words.

Maybe I should mind my own business, but damn, I love this city, and I really hate to see them preying on people who come to visit like that, because I want people to have a good experience here and not to live up to the sh*tty parts of our reputation on arrival.

Has anyone else noticed it getting this much worse? What’s up with this?