Despite a lawsuit filed by several credit unions claiming unfaircompetition, the New York State Court of Appeals has upheld a statelaw authorizing the establishment of street hail liveryservice.

The recent decision also allows the city of New York to sell2,000 additional medallions for wheelchair-accessible yellowtaxicabs.

The boroughs affected are Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, StatenIsland and northern Manhattan.

Last April, the Taxicab Service Association – which includes Briarwood,N.Y.-based $1.8 billion Melrose Credit Union, the $595 millionProgressive Credit Union in New York, $143 million Montauk CreditUnion in New York and the $248 million Lomto Federal Credit Unionin Woodside, N.Y. – filed a suit seeking to invalidate the HailAccessible Interborough License Act.

The TSA said the act was in direct competition with New York'syellow cabs, and it authorized the mayor alone to flood the marketwith 2,000 new yellow cab medallions. TSA said it works exclusivelywith credit union lenders who finance medallions. Taxi medallionsare licenses that allow for the ownership and operation of ataxi.

In its 22-page decision, the court unanimously rejected all ofthe plaintiffs' arguments, according to a statement fromBloomberg's office.

“The State law 'plainly furthers' important State goals, theCourt reasoned, including the provision of “[e]fficienttransportation services in the State's largest City andinternational center of commerce,” the statement read.

In addition to the TSA, the plaintiffs included tradeassociations, members of the yellow taxicab industry and New YorkCity Council Member Lewis A. Fidler.

The TSA also claimed that HAIL would devalue yellow taximedallions and potentially trigger a credit crisis for the $5billion medallion lending industry.

According to its suit, the TSA said New York's Taxi andLimousine Commission had illegally begun to implement the actwithout a proper review of the potential impact of 18,000 streethail livery vehicles on the city's air and noise quality, trafficcongestion and neighborhood character.

“With this decision, we can finally bring safe, reliable taxiservice to the four and a half boroughs that don't currently haveit,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

He added, “That's a victory for everyone who lives in, works inor visits New York City. This will also advance our efforts to maketaxi service available to people with disabilities, by adding 2,000wheelchair-accessible yellow cabs to the streets.”

The state law authorizes TLC to issue up to 18,000 HAIL vehiclelicenses during a three-year period, 20% of which must be forwheelchair-accessible vehicles, according to Bloomberg's office.

Beyond increasing the availability of wheelchair-accessibleyellow taxicabs in the city, the issuance of these 2,000 newmedallions should generate more than $1 billion in revenues for thecity, Bloomberg's office said.