This episode is from the WNYC archives. It may contain language which is no longer politically or socially appropriate.

John J. Travers, Coordinator of Civil Defense, Police Dept. and Nat Friedman, Director of the Emergency Taxi Corp of New York City discuss the role of the Emergency Taxi Corp. The corp was organized to provide supplementary transportation for the Police Emergency Division and other branches of the City's Civil Defense. The Taxi Corp also provided their valuable service through World War II.


Friedman describes the organizational structure of the Taxi Corp, headed by Friedman, there are five borough directors who represent individual taxi owners and companies. It operates on both a borough and city-wide basis. For recruiting, volunteers are enrolled at borough police precincts. He also describes the procedure set up by the police department to handle the volunteers. Volunteers will be required to sign a pledge. They also discuss training and manuals provided to drivers.

Volunteer taxis are expected to be able to transport 70,000 civil defense workers, transport goods and equipment, and in emergencies, used as ambulances.

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 71786
Municipal archives id: LT1869