One of the most successful bankers hired the rap star Nicki Minaj to perform at a family party. Medallion brokers grew rich enough to buy yachts and waterfront properties. The leaders of nonprofit credit unions became multimillionaires. These business practices generated huge profits for bankers, brokers, lawyers, investors, fleet owners and debt collectors. Over more than a decade, they channeled thousands of drivers into reckless loans and extracted hundreds of millions of dollars before the market collapsed. All along, officials have blamed the crisis on competition from ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft.īut a New York Times investigation found much of the devastation can be traced to a handful of powerful industry leaders who steadily and artificially drove up the price of taxi medallions, creating a bubble that eventually burst. Over the past year, a spate of suicides by taxi drivers in New York City has highlighted in brutal terms the overwhelming debt and financial plight of medallion owners. He had no idea, he said later, that he had just signed a contract that required him to pay $1.7 million.
