TLC 80-19(c)(2): FHV Pickups in the Hail Exclusionary Zone

In short: If an FHV driver solicits or picks up a passenger without a base prearrangement in Manhattan south of East 96th Street and West 110th Street or at a New York City airport, rule 80-19(c)(2) applies enhanced penalties: $500 for a first violation, $750 for a second within 24 months, and revocation for a third within 120 months (ten years). The same conduct elsewhere falls under 80-19(c)(1), which starts lower.

What the rule says

From §80-19(c)(2) in the TLC Chapter 80 rule book:

"Hail Exclusionary Zone. If a Driver solicits or picks up Passengers in Manhattan south of East 96th Street and West 110th Street or at the New York City Airports other than by prearrangement through a licensed Base of the class that can dispatch the Driver's For-Hire Vehicle, or by dispatch of an Accessible Vehicle, the Driver will be subject to the below enhanced penalties." First Violation: $500 · Second Violation in 24 months: $750 · Third Violation in 120 months: Revocation · Appearance NOT REQUIRED

TLC's chapter 51 definitions define the Hail Exclusionary Zone as "(1) Manhattan south of East 96th St. and West 110th St. (2) The New York City Airports." It is also the area where green cabs (street hail liveries) may not accept passengers by hail.

Where the zone is

Who it applies to

Every driver of a for-hire vehicle: app-based drivers, black car drivers, livery drivers and luxury limousine drivers. The rule does not apply to yellow taxis, which are licensed to accept street hails (subject to their own limits, such as no cruising at the airports under rule 80-19(a)(4)).

Common situations

The zone covers the places where people most often look for a ride on the street: Midtown and Downtown Manhattan, and the airport arrivals curbs. Situations that can lead to this summons include:

• At the airport curb, a traveller asks "Are you free?" and you agree to a price without a trip in the app.
• Outside a venue or hotel below 96th Street, someone gets in and says they'll "book it on the way."
• A passenger whose booking was cancelled asks you to take them anyway.
• Calling out offers of a ride from your car window — the rule says "solicits or picks up," so offering a ride can be enough even if nobody gets in.

In each case, the safest answer is to tell the person to book through the app or your base and to wait for the trip to come through to you. Rule 80-20(b)(12) expressly lists an FHV being hailed as a justified reason to refuse, so declining is never a refusal violation.

Two rules, side by side

The biggest difference is the ten-year window for revocation. Two findings in the zone years apart can still put a third one at revocation level.

Related airport rules for FHV drivers

Two other chapter 80 rules matter at the airports:

• 80-19(f) — waiting for dispatch at JFK or LaGuardia. An FHV driver "must not accept a dispatch while parked or otherwise located at Kennedy Airport or La Guardia Airport unless the Driver is parked in an area other than the airport's designated passenger pick up locations." Fine: $250.
• 80-19(d)(2) — taxi stands. An FHV driver must not pick up at any taxi stand, including airport stands: $350; $500 for a second within 24 months; revocation for a third within 36 months.

Airport and terminal operators also post their own pickup rules. Check the JFK and LaGuardia pages for local detail.

How often it is charged

This code was common in 2016–2018, then almost vanished from the first-charge data: one summons in 2025 and none in 2019–2024. The rule is still in the current rule book. The data does not say why the code stopped appearing first — street-hail pickups may have been charged under other codes, such as 80-19(c)(1) — so don't read the drop as "this is no longer enforced."

What to do now

1. Check which code is on the summons, and the location. Was it really inside the zone?
2. Download your trip history for that day from the app or base. A matching prearranged trip is the central evidence.
3. Check your 24-month and 120-month history. Prior findings change everything here.
4. Answer by the hearing date. See what to expect at an OATH phone hearing.

Points to discuss with your lawyer

• Was the pickup location inside Manhattan below East 96th / West 110th, or at an airport?
• Was the trip prearranged through a base that can dispatch your vehicle?
• Was it an accessible-vehicle dispatch, which the rule excludes?
• Was there solicitation or a pickup at all, or only an approach by a person?

Background: street hail and unlicensed activity and our page for Uber and Lyft drivers.