Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday nominated Midori Valdivia as the next commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), the agency that regulates the tens of thousands of cabs and for-hire vehicles on New York City’s streets.
Valdivia previously worked as an analyst and adviser for the Port Authority for six years before becoming a deputy commissioner of finance at TLC in 2015.
“That champion, my friends, is the woman to my left, Midori Valdivia, who I’m so proud to nominate today,” Mamdani said at a news conference at a LaGuardia Airport taxi stand.
“From City Hall, we will deliver meaningful change in the lives of the working people, too often forgotten by our politics and in the day-to-day existences of the taxi drivers who deserve a forceful champion at the TLC,” he added.
As TLC chair, she’d be tasked with determining policies that govern the more than 84,000 Uber and Lyft vehicles licensed to operate in the city, as well as the city’s yellow taxi industry.
“Transportation is freedom…How we move, how we navigate this great city of ours, it’s our lifeline. It’s critical. It’s essential, and that’s why I’ve been so committed to improving transportation in New York City for my entire professional career,” said Valdivia.
Mamdani formed a political alliance with many yellow taxi drivers in 2021, his first year in the state Assembly.
He joined taxi medallion owners on a hunger strike outside of City Hall that year as they protested for debt relief. Yellow taxi medallions — which give drivers exclusive rights to pick up people hailing a cab on the street in most areas of the city.