Judge Rules on Long Beach Taxi Medallions

A number of medallions that John Marsala, owner of Long Beach Taxi, formerly held are not his property, but are those of his rival, Beech Street Taxi owner Thomas Cipolla, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Thomas Phelan ruled last week.

In 2008, Marsala sued the City of Long Beach after officials did not renew 22 of his medallions that he let expire and gave seven of them to Cipolla, and Phelan decided in part that because the medallions had expired, Marsala was not entitled to an appeal under the city’s code, and that the city was fair to issue them to Cipolla since they were inactive, according to Newsday. Marsala's attorney, Michael Zapson, who is also chairman of the said he and his client would appeal the decision.

The court’s ruling is the latest development in an ongoing feud between the two cab companies, and in recent months Cipolla has taken his concerns to the City Council. He contends that Marsala broke an agreement they made with former City Manager Charles Theofan, who instructed each taxi company to operate stirctly on either side of the Long Island Rail Road station on Park Avenue. Marsala, whose Long Beach Taxi exclusively leases the east of the station, has some of his drivers park on the west side of the station, which Cipolla said is supposed to be an area exclusively for his Beach Street Taxi cabs.

But Marsala and Zapson contend that the meeting with Theofan neve happened, and that the west side is public property and therefore Long Beach Taxi can park their cabs there.