Count it as one small victory for quality of life in the city: The Taxi and Limousine Commission will likely vote Thursday to shut down those obnoxious Taxi TV screens. Did it really have to take nine years?
While not as maddening as the celebrity “Buckle Up” announcements that came before, Taxi TV is a pain — with annoying, repetitive content (a single looped “Jeopardy!” question can be torture) and hard-to-work “mute” or “off” buttons.
This was another of those inane Bloomberg-era diktats — the TLC ordering something because it could, and because somebody thought it would be neat. Back when yellow cabs were the only option, riders and drivers alike just had to put up with it.
Mayor de Blasio’s minions could’ve scored some points if they’d targeted this idiocy when they first took over the TLC. Instead, they’ve spent their energies trying to protect the medallion cabs against the innovators at Uber.
Ironically, credit for killing Taxi TV will now likely go to Uber — its rides are so pleasant, the TLC is having to admit its TV mandate is an unfair burden on yellow cabs.
And here’s one more reason to pity the poor medallion owners: They get stuck with the bills for removing the screens.
At least the drivers and riders win some peace.