Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Paint the streets

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"Nissan taxi deal will change look of New York City Streets," says the headline of a story in the Tennesseean ... Tennesseean? Nissan has a good P.R. department.
From Mexico direct to Manhattan, here comes a box-like taxi that could define the iconic yellow cabs of New York City over the next decade and beyond, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday as he announced that a Nissan minivan will become the city’s taxi of choice.
That jolly old Mayor Bloomberg, what a cut-up. Just the other day, he invited the world to come and re-settle Detroit.
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit should take a page from Lady Liberty and shine a beacon of welcome to immigrants as a way to overcome its severe population loss, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday. ... Unlike many of America’s central cities, New York has seen its population inch up, thanks in large part to a steady influx of immigrants.
Perhaps His Honor might spare a thought about why Detroit is a ghost city, why all its productive citizens kicked up dust in their hurry to leave no themselves behind. And whether a wave of Third World peasants is the kind of gene pool to bring Notown back to life. He can't be bothered, though. He has the phrase "nation of immigrants" on repeat play and Emma Lazarus's doggerel is his Bible. This is one Lazarus that should not have been raised from the dead, assuming she wasn't brain dead from birth.

While waiting for Africa to kick start Detroit, His Honor can take comfort that at least New York's taxis will be Mexican immigrants.

Nissan/Mexico received the Bloomberg's seal of approval because of its attention to detail. The New York cabs will be equipped with features and options designed with the city's specialness and vibrancy in mind.

• Subtitles in 216 languages for immediate translation of drivers' speech.

• Specialized moving maps indicating the longest distance to the destination.

• Kwik-Kill™ cigarette smoke detectors for the passenger compartment.

• Pre-dented, pre-scratched body metal.

• Radio receiver with automatic tuning to hip-hop and salsa music stations.

• Runs on AAA batteries. Very slowly, but no matter; you know what cross-town traffic is like.

New York, New York. It's a hell of a town.

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4 comments:

yih said...

A story about NYC cabs from Chatanooga. LOL
But notice the 'A Gannet newspaper' in the banner. The USA Today-ization of that companies papers is becoming more and more common.
Kind of like flicking on the local NBC TV station at home then doing the same in SoCal. Not much difference between the two.

Maria said...

Nissan has a large factory near Nashville.

Maria said...

PS--if Nissan is building taxis in Mexico, that means fewer "New Americans" coming up here for their "better way of life."

Every little bit helps.

Maria said...

I was wrong: the main Nissan plant in Tennessee is actually in Smyrna.

http://www.autointell.com/asian_companies/nissan/nissan-facilities/nissan-us-facilities.htm

Employs 6700 people. That's a big deal in the Volunteer State.