Nissan Altima Hybrid Police Car, Marked as a Taxicab, finally found and photographed!!

This one is downright ruthless:

In Manhattan, there are one or maybe two undercover police cars marked as taxicabs for almost every precinct. In the past few months a lot of the precincts obtained two or three patrol cars from Nissan to save gas and lower the annual budget, so while they were at it they experimented further with at least one Altima to give it the Taxi look.

My guess with this special car is that it bounces around between at least two stations, I don't think there are more than two Nissan police taxis ((((Correction, in the time past since this article was last posted there are now at least 5 Nissan Altima Hybrid taxi marked police cars, medalion numbers 6y18 through 6y22)))). This was spotted at the TriBeCa station, and then during the week I saw the same one parked at the Chelsea station.

The representation of a taxicab is almost flawless here. While the Crown Victoria has extra antennae, a black side bumper, and some even have grey front and rear bumpers, not to mention dual exhaust and standard wheelbase (the New York/Chicago taxis have extended wheelbases), This Nissan Altima police car looks no different in any way from a regular Nissan taxi. The only flaw I see so far is that the greenyc sticker, which advertises that it's a hybrid taxi, is pasted to the trunk lid rather than it's proper place above the checker decal.

They even put the little bumpers around the front license plate like so many cabs do!

Although it is of course without a partition, and that is a choice that cab owners who drive their own vehicle can make, but it is very rare.

The key job for these police cars I believe is to be very active during the weekends especially at night to search for impaired drivers, they have heavy presence around the bars below 23rd Street, and at the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. But they act just as any other undercover cop would, handling any operation that needed some covertness, such as the selling of counterfeit merchandise. But really your guess is good as mine, sometimes they get an emergency call and race down the avenue with the sirens blazing, why they can't just call a normal police car over in that case baffles me, but it does give me the rare opportunity to inform the passengers in my cab about these mythological cars, unlike Santa Claus, they do exist.

Here is the Altima as a normal police cruiser:

And finally, this is the earliest shot I have of the Nissan Altima Hybrid as a taxi, back when they first came out earlier this year. The advertisement on the roof is generally in indication that the driver obtained the taxi through a group that has ownership either of the medallion or of the entire taxicab. There are plenty of real Nissan Altima taxis without advertisements on the roof, and also in an earlier post, I noted one Crown Victoria undercover police taxi with a fake advertisement top as well.