Taxi Workers Join Family Of Deceased Yellow Cab Driver Jagjit Singh At Memorial Ceremony

After a third driver was found dead in his taxi in three months, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, NYTWA, members joined his family September 15, 2026, to lay flowers at the West Village site where he died.

Family members of deceased yellow cab driver Jagjit Singh were joined by members of NYTWA in a memoriam in West Village, NYC. ALL PHOTOS: Courtesy NYTWA

Jagjit Singh, a yellow cab driver for more than 20 years, was 53 years old. An immigrant from India, Singh’s wife, twin sons, mother-in-law, father-in-law and several of his close driver friends came together to lay flowers along with Commissioner Midori Valdivia of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, and several of her staff. Also present was founder of NYTWA Bhairavi Desai.

Photos and video here. All members of the media have permission to use these with credit to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.

Colleagues and family members laid flowers where Jagjit Singh was found in his car in the West Village.

A part of the poster of deceased taxi driver Jagjit Singh who died on September 11, 2026, in West Village, NYC.

On Friday afternoon around 5 pm, Singh pulled over after dropping off passengers in the West Village. His friends realized something was wrong when they couldn’t reach him for hours. At 11 pm, they traced the car to the West Village and learned he had been parked there since the drop-off.

NYTWA Executive Director Bhairavi Desai, founder of the organization, said, “We are supposed to work to live, not live to work. But drivers like our deceased brothers work grueling days and nights. As trips shrink while costs grow, they’re left with little time to take care of themselves while they work longer and longer hours to try to make ends meet. They have less time for breaks, less time to go to the doctor, less time to pick up medications. We urgently need economic reforms in this industry so drivers can earn enough to stop working themselves to death.”

In August, Khalifa Siwa died alone in his parked taxi on the Henry Hudson with his insulin in his hand. He was the eldest of four children, and he helped raise his siblings, paying for their education, and took care of their mom. He was alone in this country and lived a life of sacrifice. He was also 53.

And in July, taxi driver Richard Coulibaly died in his parked taxi overnight during a heatwave. New York Taxi Workers Alliance and fellow drivers identified him and then spent days searching for his family in Ivory Coast. Through social media and WhatsApp, NYTWA’s organizers found Coulibaly’s brother to inform him of the tragic news. The union and a committee of Coulibaly’s friends raised funds for the funeral and after a long process of bureaucracy and paperwork, on Friday August 28th, were able to send “Brother” Coulibaly to his home in Ivory Coast for his final resting.