§ 20-374 Granting and transferring of licenses.
AC § 20-374
a. Any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association, owning or operating a sight-seeing bus, or buses, or horse-drawn cab, or cabs engaging in the business of transporting passengers in, about, over and upon any of the streets, avenues, bridges, highways, boulevards or public places within the limits of the city of New York, shall be issued a license for each bus or cab so operating, provided, however any such person, firm, partnership, corporation or association owning or operating a sight-seeing bus or buses, shall first have obtained a license or licenses, as he or she shall be entitled to receive from the commissioner of motor vehicles of the state of New York as made and provided by law. b. It shall be unlawful for a license, after being issued by the commissioner, to be transferred to any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association for any cause whatsoever, except that licenses for horse-drawn cabs may be transferred with the approval of the commissioner. Upon voluntary sale or transfer of a licensed horse-drawn cab by the holder of a license or his or her legal representative, the licensee shall immediately notify the commissioner of his or her intention to replace such horse-drawn cab, or shall surrender his or her license. If the license is surrendered, the vendee or transferee may make application to the commissioner for the licensing of the horsedrawn cab so purchased. A new license shall then be issued by the commissioner in place of the license so surrendered, provided the applicant has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the commissioner that he or she is qualified to assume the duties and obligations of a horse-drawn cab license. c. The commissioner shall issue additional licenses only after conducting a public hearing to determine whether the public convenience, welfare and necessity require the operation of additional horse-drawn cabs. The public hearing shall be called upon his or her own motion or upon written request by any applicant. Notice of such public hearing shall be published in the City Record once a week for two consecutive weeks and shall be mailed to all current licensees. If the commissioner shall determine that additional horse-drawn cabs are necessary and advisable, he or she shall certify the number of new licenses to be granted. Not more than one such public hearing shall be held during any calendar year and the commissioner may refuse to consider any request if it appears that a recent public hearing has adequately considered the question. In making his or her determination, the commissioner shall consider among other things, the income of the driver, the income of the owner, the effect upon traffic, and the public demand. The new licenses which are granted shall be allocated to the then existent licensees in the ratio of the number of licenses held by the licensee to the total number of licenses issued and in effect. If a licensee does not accept his or her allotted number within sixty days, his or her additional licenses shall be allocated in the same manner among the remaining licensees. If the number of additional licenses authorized is insufficient to permit such allocation, then the distribution among those licensees entitled to the smallest number of additional licenses shall be made so that priority shall be given to those who have been uninterruptedly licensed for the longest period. New applicants for such additional licenses shall be considered only when the present licensees refuse to accept their allocation of licenses in the manner provided above. The distribution of such additional licenses to new applicants shall be in the order of their filing, provided however that each new applicant shall not be entitled to more than one such additional license until each new applicant who has filed at the time of distribution and who is otherwise eligible has received one license. d. An owner of a sight-seeing bus company applying for or renewing a license issued pursuant to subdivision a of this section shall first obtain written authorization from the commissioner of transportation for all designated on-street bus stops for the pickup and discharge of passengers in order to be eligible for the issuance or renewal of such license. Sight-seeing bus owners shall, in the event that a written authorization required by this subdivision is modified or revoked by the commissioner of transportation, notify the commissioner within five days of receiving notice of such modification or revocation. e. An owner of a sight-seeing bus company that does not have a written authorization from the commissioner of transportation because such sight-seeing bus company does not require on-street bus stops for its operations, shall provide the department with information on whether (i) such sight-seeing bus company engages in the pickup or discharge of passengers at various locations in the city, and if so, then (ii) such owner of a sight-seeing bus company shall provide to the department a list of all such passenger pick up and discharge locations. (Am. L.L. 2018/175, 10/27/2018, eff. 4/25/2019)
