When I was a kid, I distinctly remember these specific signs placed on the luggage carousels at Newark Liberty International Airport. It was of these two shady guys — one of whom I’m pretty sure had a cigar in his mouth — holding up a sign that said: “You need a ride?” The point of this PSA was to warn passengers about unauthorized car services at the airport, which was a concept I didn’t quite understand in my youth.
Cut to 2026, and it seems that this is still a common thing! Even in the age of Uber, when I landed at LaGuardia this week, I was surprised by how many people in the terminal were asking travelers if they needed a taxi. There were even PA announcements warning about these people who were, for some reason, still walking around the baggage claim area. Knowing better than to take them up on it, I followed the green signs to the actual cab stand… but not before nearly making a big mistake.
When I got to the curb where it said “Taxi,” I thought I had already reached the official cab stand. So, when a guy said, “Where you going?” and I said “Manhattan,” I expected the next yellow taxi to pull up. Instead, he pointed to a white SUV and said to get in. Admittedly, it took me a couple of seconds to figure out what was going on — especially since I thought I was in the cab line.
Well, it turns out that I still needed to cross the street to enter the taxi stand. Realizing what had happened, I just walked away, catching a glimpse of the guy’s frustration out of the corner of my eye as I headed across the crosswalk. He was that close!
Okay, so in my head, I wasn’t really in danger of getting scammed, as I wouldn’t have actually climbed into that car once it was obvious that it wasn’t a real taxi. Still, I was taken aback at how the slight shift in context and location got me to (temporarily) drop my guard — the same guard I had up not 50 feet ago inside the terminal.
I’m also surprised at just how prevalent this was. There were at least three guys inside the terminal that I noticed in addition to the guy at the curb. Meanwhile, I’ve been to airports where I get a loud whistle blown at me if I stop for more than five seconds. So how do these guys get away with it?
While I can’t say how bad it might have been if I did take him up on his offer, I’m happy to not know. And to those thinking, “Isn’t that how Uber started?” my response would be that, at least with Uber, there’s an app to track the trip, payment, etc. Getting into a car with a stranger and absolutely no middleman or authority means that just about anything could happen.
The moral of the story is, whether you’re visiting New York or any other city where such things might happen, just be sure to double-check. As it turns out, even when you know what to look for, you might just catch yourself slipping. Stay safe!