SIX FAMOUS EX-CABBIES

Larry David
   After watching a zillion episodes of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, one can imagine Larry as the rudest, most opinionated New York cabbie ever. But in a good way.
David Mamet
   The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright says his stint as a Chicago cabdriver was on-the-job training for his career as a writer.
Jimmy Smits
   In the early 1980s, Jimmy acted in off-Broadway plays and drove a cab on the overnight shift. That lasted until he received the pilot script for a new show producer Steven Bochco was developing called L.A. Law, and went on to star in N.Y.P.D. Blue.
Danny Glover
   In 1999, Danny used his leverage as a former San Francisco cabdriver to raise awareness about cabbies sometimes not picking up African-American passengers.
Philip Glass
   Philip was just another Juilliard-trained composer struggling to make a living in New York City when he drove a taxi. He said he loved the job because he was free to let his mind wander. It was behind the wheel of a cab that Philip worked on Einstein on the Beach, his most famous opera.

The East River Bridges (no tolls)

   You do not have to pay coming or going from Manhattan on the East River Bridge crossings---the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, and the 59th Street Bridge. There are always plans on the table to put toll plazas on those bridges, and they somehow always get defeated.
   If you have a hard time remembering the order of the bridges that connect lower Manhattan with Brooklyn, just imagine you're a German tourist; working your way uptown, it's BMW---Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg.