The chairmanship of New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is a powerful perch. | Getty Images Facing Council rejection of his taxi nominee, de Blasio digs in

Mayor Bill de Blasio is not giving up on his pick to run what is arguably the nation’s most important taxi regulator — perhaps because he has no other choice.

The mayor’s office affirmed on Friday that it’s still looking to renominate Jeff Roth to run the Taxi and Limousine Commission, even though Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s office has told de Blasio, in no uncertain terms, that the Council will not proceed with Roth, a Council source told POLITICO.


On July 22, just hours before de Blasio’s office said the mayor was “temporarily withdrawing Jeff Roth’s nomination” so it could “continue conversations with the Council to address their concerns,” the mayor personally called Johnson and made his case, the source said.

De Blasio argued that, among other things, the Council should move forward with Roth because it was hard to find anyone else who wanted the job, the source said. Johnson told de Blasio he’d think about it. Within the next couple of days, Johnson’s staff told City Hall that Roth was a non-starter.

Jennifer Fermino, a spokesperson for Johnson, declined comment. Seth Stein, a spokesperson for the mayor, declined to discuss the contents of de Blasio’s conversation with Johnson.

“We believe Jeff Roth will fight to help hardworking drivers support their families and make ends meet,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to re-nominating him.”

The chairmanship of New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is a powerful perch, with regulatory power over one of Uber’s and Lyft’s biggest markets. The former chair, Meera Joshi, left the commission in March, after instituting a first-in-the-nation minimum wage for app drivers, but after clashing with the mayor.

Her longtime colleague, Bill Heinzen, succeeded Joshi as acting commissioner. He’s regarded as a straight-shooter with a good head for policy, but he’s also considered so close to Joshi as to be politically untenable in a de Blasio administration.

Roth seems well-liked among taxi types, too. When, in June, de Blasio formally nominated him to the position, New York Taxi Workers Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai said she had found him “sharp and engaging on policy.”

Prior to serving as a deputy commissioner at the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services, Roth had served as a deputy commissioner for policy at the taxi commission. He has also served in the Army National Guard since 1999. During his time there, he wrote anonymous columns lambasting the government's “don't ask, don't tell” policy.

His nomination to run the Taxi and Limousine Commission requires City Council approval.

That nomination coincided with a political firestorm over New York City’s role in artificially inflating the value of taxi medallions, thereby setting up some owners for financial duress.

Johnson and other Council members denounced Roth’s performance during his nomination hearing in July as evasive and insufficiently contrite. Johnson dubbed it “awful.”

Until Friday, there had been radio silence from the administration about its intentions. Its decision to stick with Roth, coupled with Johnson’s decision to reject him, suggests a stalemate with no obvious solution.

“No one’s interested in the job,” lamented one industry source.