<P> In 1937, Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia signed the Haas Act which introduced official taxi licenses and the medallion system that remains in place today . The law limited the total number of cab licenses to 16,900, but the number dwindled to 11,787 licenses, staying equal over the next six decades . </P> <P> In the 1960s, New York City experienced many of the problems other cities did . Crime and racial tensions increased . As a result, a quickly growing industry of private livery services emerged . Unofficial drivers were barred from picking up people on the street, but they readily found business in under - served neighborhoods . </P> <P> In 1967, New York City ordered all "medallion taxis" be painted yellow to help cut down on unofficial drivers and make official taxicabs more readily recognizable . The wife of the president of New Departure, Nettie Rockwell, particularly liked the color yellow and it therefore became the color of the new Rockwell taxicabs . The Rockwell Service Cab became the Yellow Taxicab when Mrs. Rockwell selected that as her choice of color for the auto . </P> <P> The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) was established in 1971 with jurisdiction over the city's medallion (yellow) taxicabs, livery cabs, "black cars", commuter vans, paratransit vehicles (ambulettes), and some luxury limousines . Its predecessor was the New York City Hack Bureau, operated under the aegis of the New York City Police Department . TLC Inspectors are New York State peace officers . </P>

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