Endless circle of debt

Felicia and Dalip Singh Courtesy Felicia Singh Campaign for City Council

Dalip Singh thought driving a taxi would be his ticket to the middle class. Instead, he discovered that he’d bought into a massive lending scam.

Dalip Singh had been driving New York City yellow cab for as long as his daughter Felicia could remember.

But when she arrived home one day last April, the taxi wasn’t there. Dalip had practically given it away because he could no longer afford his taxi medallion, the permit you need in order to own and drive a yellow cab in the city.

“He’s like, yeah, we don’t — I don’t have my medallion,” Felicia said. “I can’t drive this taxi anymore. It’s worthless. It doesn’t — it’s not worth anything.”

The taxi was supposed to be Dalip’s ticket to the middle class. But after years of trying to pay down his medallion loan, he learned he’d bought into a massive lending scam. It went on for decades, pushing him and thousands of other drivers into extreme debt.

As Dalip and his family try to get ahead, we’ll follow their struggle against the system they thought was meant to help them.

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“This Is Uncomfortable” is Reema Khrais, Donna Tam, Megan Detrie, Peter Balonon-Rosen, Camila Kerwin, Phoebe Unterman, Marque Greene and Serena Chow