Al Roker Says New York City Taxi Passed Him To Pick Up A White Guy

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TV weatherman Al Roker said he was the victim of discrimination on Saturday when a New York City taxi passed him and his son to pick up a white passenger a block away.

Roker, longtime weather anchor for NBC's "Today" show, fired off a series of tweets that evening saying he was filing a complaint with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission over the incident: 

Filed a complaint today after getting passed up again by a NYC Yellow cab. Cabbie picked up a white guy a block away. Wonder why Uber wins?
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015

This happens to folks of color every day. And while most cabbies do their job, there are those ignorant, racist ones who hurt the others
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015

What really hurts, my 13 yr. old boy was with me and asked why the cabbie passed us. I said, "Nick, ignorant people make dumb choices"
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015

Hopefully @nyctaxi weeds out the bad apples. Looking forward to a hearing and dealing with this. I will keep you posted
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015

When questioned on Twitter, Roker said he was trying to bring a sick child to see a doctor, and offered more detail:

@mariamadelyn_ he pulled up, I reached for the door, took off and went for the guy a block away. He saw me and took off for another fare
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015

The NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission confirmed to the New York Daily News that Roker had filed a complaint. 

"Service refusal goes to the core of the taxi industry's social contract with the riding public and it will not be tolerated," Commission chair Meera Joshi told the newspaper. "We're grateful that Mr. Roker took the time to file a complaint, and I can assure him that we will investigate this thoroughly and take every appropriate action."

Earlier this year, a taxi driver was fined $25,000 after telling a black family he was off duty, then stopping to pick up two white passengers, according to DNAinfo New York.

 

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