James Kernochan

James Kernochan

A native Brooklynite, James Kernochan began his career in the NYC taxi industry in the 1950s. He returned to the industry in 1983 and remains involved in the business to this day at the age of 82. In his interview, Jim discusses what the business was like in postwar New York as well as the changes that have taken place since then. Jim also shares his experiences as a medallion-owner in addition to his perspectives as a driver for over twenty-five years.

April 1, 2011

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We ask researchers and public viewers to understand the following:

1. These interviews were conducted keeping in mind the General Principles & Best Practices for Oral History provided by the Oral History Association (2009). The Oral History Association states that those using oral histories “should strive for intellectual honesty and the best application of the skills of their discipline. They should avoid stereotypes, misrepresentations, and manipulations of the narrator’s words. This includes foremost striving to retain the integrity of the narrator’s perspective, recognizing the subjectivity of the interview, and interpreting and contextualizing the narrative according to the professional standards of the applicable scholarly disciplines.”

2. As we believe that the audio version of an oral history is the primary source and contains important silences and intonations, we have provided access to the full length audio interviews on this website. As these interviews contain verbal stammers, repetitions, stutters and grammatical mistakes that are natural when conversing, please be respectful of this when listening to and quoting from these interviews.

4. The New York City Taxi Driver Oral History Project is a documentation project and is designed to document the voices and perspectives of selected taxi drivers at a given moment in the history of the NYC taxi industry. The project directors have not and do not intend to cast judgment, interpret, or draw conclusions based on these interviews.

5. The opinions and perspectives recorded as part of The New York City Taxi Driver Oral History Project reflect only those viewpoints of the drivers themselves. The project directors do not necessarily share any of the opinions voiced by the interviewees.

6. Citations must take the following form:

"Narrator’s Name," in The New York City Taxi Driver Oral History Project, Item #, http://nyctaxisoralhistory.com/project (accessed Month Day, Year).

audio

English

Samantha Gibson

Margaret Fraser

James Kernochan

New York, NY

WAV

1:09:15

1,411.2 kbit/s

Start - 10:00: Jim's background in NYC, buying his first cab, experience with jobs other than taxi driving, returning to the industry; challenge of retiring with only the cab leasing income, Jim and his friends driving in the fifties, procedure for getting a license, immigrants in the taxi industry; difficulties of taxi driving; commission system before leasing

10:00 - 20:00: Owner rationale for switching to leasing; challenges as an owner; TLC; inspiration to become a taxi driver; leasing to friends and families; demographic shifts in among drivers; oversupply of drivers

20:00 - 30:00: Oversupply of drivers and influence on the industry; strike and drivers' relationship with the city; luck of owning a cab; why we [Samantha and Margaret] are doing this project; struggle to make money; politics of the industry; stresses as a driver

30:00 - 40:00: Stresses of the profession; need for self-awareness; 90% nice people; lack of community among drivers; relating to passengers

40:00 - 50:00: 1998 strike and organizing efforts; drivers out for themselves; enough money for everyone; celebrity passengers;

50:00 - 1:00:00: Racial profiling by drivers; Al-Anon and the therapist role; advantages of driving a cab; success as a cab driver

1:00:00 - End: Changes in the industry between the 1950s and 1983; meeting cab drivers in his mother's restaurant; background on our project