What a real New York City cab looks like:

This is the follow-up to the articles I posted last week about a few taxicabs driving around New York City, WITHOUT any certification to be picking up passengers in the city. This permit, known to locals as a medallion, is worth up to 1 million dollars! I've shown pictures of these fake taxicabs.

So as a comparison,

Here are pictures of some examples of the REAL THING
Authentic New York City taxicabs:

NYC TAXI: THE REAL THING, ACCEPT NO IMITATIONS: what to look for

Medallion #
Passenger door:

At the door of a real taxi in New York City you should find the medallion number of the cab near the handle. The medallion number examples shown above are 5Y95, and 1W25.

All taxi medallions have three numbers and one letter, the letter is always the second digit in the four digit medallion.

A licensed taxicab will never have these letters I, O, Q, R, S, U, X, or Z in their four digit medallion number, and will also never have the number 0.

Medallion #
Roof light and license plate:

The medallion number is also on the rooflight outside the cab, it lights up when the cab is empty and it turns off when a passenger is inside. The license plate number is also the very same number. 

There is only one exception to this rule. Some taxicabs are registered as Stand By Vehicles (SBV)

Stand By Vehicle Identification:
These cabs have a six digit identification number by the rear door with the first letters: SBV,
followed by three numbers,
as an example: SBV144.

The license plate puts the numbers first followed by the letters, as shown below: 144SBV

Some other examples of Stand By Vehicles:





The medallion number on these cars are temporarily assigned, taken from their permanent taxicabs which are in the garage being repaired. The medallion number can still be found on the roof light.

Front Door NYC Taxi Identification:

All front doors of real NYC taxicabs, should have the official decals that read NYC TAXI. I believe it is a registered trademark with copyrights.

Mandatory taxi television and credit card swipe:
All taxicabs have a television monitor and a credit card swipe, as well as a meter. the monitor and credit card swipe is always mounted so that passengers in the back seat can use them. Accept no substitutes!! 

These are all special characteristics that only exist in real NYC Taxicabs. I hope this was helpful. In truth there are only maybe 6 to 10 fake taxicabs in New York City compared with 13,000 authentic cabs. But it's best to be armed with this information, just incase.