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New crackdown on illegal cabbies coming to JFK Airport, new Port Authority boss says
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 5, 2026
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Bess Adler / Gothamist
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 5, 2026
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The new head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey pledged on Thursday to increase enforcement on illegal taxi hustlers at airports.
Kathryn Garcia, the former director of state operations for the governor’s office and ex-city sanitation commissioner, was sworn in as the Port Authority's leader on Thursday. The bistate agency has a $9 billion annual budget.
Gothamist reported last week that taxi scammers have become increasingly common at JFK Airport since the pandemic. The decades-old scheme involves hustlers posing as cabbies and tricking tourists into entering their cars, then shaking them down for exorbitant fares.
“You have identified something that is a serious problem and that we need to take a multipronged approach to actually solving it,” Garcia, the new executive director, said in response to Gothamist’s reporting at the Port Authority’s monthly board meeting. “Let’s look at the actual statutes and where do they need to be changed? How are we deploying both our undercover and our uniform forces? Where can we be using technology?”
Garcia also said she has “other thoughts” that she wants to consider with her operations team as she begins to lead the agency.
Kathryn Garcia was sworn in as new executive director of the Port Authority.
Ramsey Khalifeh
In December, Garcia’s predecessor Rick Cotton announced $100 million on new technology to track and surveil taxi scammers at JFK.
Soliciting a ride at the airports is a misdemeanor, with a maximum fine of $3,000 and 90 days in jail. The Port Authority said it has issued more than 2,400 summonses for the illegal solicitation of rides at JFK Airport between January and November of last year.
But recent visits to the airport’s international terminal by Gothamist found that hustlers were active as ever.
Garcia indicated she would consider asking state legislators to pass new laws toughening penalties for illegal cabbies if a crackdown is ineffective.
Cotton, whose eight-year tenure leading the Port Authority came to an end on Thursday, acknowledged that defeating the hustlers is “a very difficult problem.”
“We have to figure out a solution — solution is the wrong word,” he said. “A way of deterring that kind of illegal conduct.”
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transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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