How Do I Reserve A Taxi between Brooklyn and Manhattan

August 6, 2021 2:57 PM

Asking for a friend traveling 1000 miles to NYC for surgery. They’re staying in Brooklyn, procedure is in Manhattan. The prospect of street hailing a cab before and after surgery is scary. They want to travel with a professional driver. In their small town, they call the cab company a couple days ahead to schedule a ride. I've searched for a central dispatch phone number without results. Are ride-hail apps like CURB or waave reliable?
posted by Jesse the K to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (10 answers total)

Before Uber/Lyft existed I used Arecibo Car Service occasionally. It looks like they do non-emergency medical transportation.
posted by pinochiette at 3:01 PM on August 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I’ve used Carmel Car Service many times.
posted by profreader at 3:11 PM on August 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

Best answer: Carmel is reliable and perfect for getting there.

But I agree with praemunire; they should check with their surgeon's office to see if they will be allowed to leave by taxi after the procedure (assuming it's ambulatory, i.e. same day).
posted by ocherdraco at 3:15 PM on August 6, 2021

Response by poster: They're not traveling alone and both of them are new to The Big City.

Thanks for the Carmel recommendation
posted by Jesse the K at 3:30 PM on August 6, 2021

Best answer: I agree about Carmel (I'm not a New Yorker but use them every time I'm in town & have never had a problem).
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:40 PM on August 6, 2021

Arecibo is brownstone Brooklyn’s old school reliable car service. I would use them over Carmel IMO.
posted by sandmanwv at 6:56 PM on August 6, 2021

Car Service is the location NY term for the type of business you want. Before ride shares we regularly used Eastern Car Service for rides to/from park slope. There are some bad Yelp reviews for all these companies but they should be able to do what your friend needs.

Re reading your question I am curious if your friend is under the impression that uber/lyft is the same in NY as anywhere else - the “professional driver” part of it caused me to pause. All ride share cars in nyc are licensed by the taxi and limousine commission and driven by drivers as professional as cabbies or the car service drivers at Carmel/Arecibo/Eastern. They won’t be people driving their personal cars in their spare time.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:25 PM on August 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Longtime New Yorker and taxi-taker here. CURB is great, unless your friend has an aversion to traditional yellow taxi cabs.
posted by nayantara at 9:42 AM on August 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

What Exceptional_Hubris said - NYC Uber and Lyft have the same exact licenses and car inspection requirements as Carmel or Arecibo. If you order a Uber Black or Lyft Lux you will get a newer and more luxurious car than Carmel or Arecibo will give you.
posted by MattD at 9:54 AM on August 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the update re: Lyft/Uber being regulated by TLC! That's why CURB handles all of them.
posted by Jesse the K at 12:08 PM on August 7, 2021