Tall Orders

For the longest time, the city’s taxis were ordinary low-slung automobiles. The exceptions were the boxy numbers whose insides seemed spacious as a studio apartment. They were so roomy, they featured jump seats on the back of the driver’s seat. They could accommodate four and five passengers easily, six at a pinch. Yet even those vehicles could be entered by an ordinary step-up.

Car shapes changed over time. The default car nowadays is bulbous, body-built — rappers and Chinese are said to like them that way — and hence so are most cabs. Looks aside, the practical question remains: How do we get in them?

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

For the longest time, the city’s taxis were ordinary low-slung automobiles. The exceptions were the boxy numbers whose insides seemed spacious as a studio apartment. They were so roomy, they featured jump seats on the back of the driver’s seat. They could accommodate four and five passengers easily, six at a pinch. Yet even those vehicles could be entered by an ordinary step-up.

Car shapes changed over time. The default car nowadays is bulbous, body-built — rappers and Chinese are said to like them that way — and hence so are most cabs. Looks aside, the practical question remains: How do we get in them?