[soyiuz]

"It is against the law for a taxi driver on duty to refuse to pick you up because of race, disability, or destination within New York City." http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/2599/yellow-taxi-c...

Write down their licence plate if this ever happens and report. Otherwise, as has been said: get in first then address always.

[CaptainApathy]

In grad school I worked part time for the city's non-emergency 311 help-line and took several calls related to taxi complaints. The process may have changed since then (early 2000's), but it's not a very friendly process for the individual making the complaint.

The person making the complaint is required to show up for a hearing, in person, at a date and time determined by the TLC, to present her complaint to a panel of "judges." The driver is also required to show up and to present their side of the story. My understanding is that they almost always find in favor of the complainee, even when there's no evidence and it's the driver's word vs. the complainee's. After the third judgment the driver loses their license.

So on one hand making a complaint is far more difficult than poorly rating a driver on a phone, a process that takes almost no effort. But on the flip side the complaints that were processed were taken very seriously and had very real repercussions.