The drivers don't usually own the medallion, they lease the car for a shift and try to make the cost back by picking up fares.

The medallion lobby is strong and politically connected (as we've just seen), so pulling of medallions is highly unlikely.

You present a perfectly valid approach...but one that isnt used. POC not being able to get yellow cabs is a problem since I was a child of 1980s NYC...and probably much before.

So once cant support the Uber crackdown and say: oh, and we can [theoretically] "just" crack down on discrimination using this method. It hasnt been enforced for 30+yrs, no need to assume laws will be enforced suddenly starting today.

That doesn't work when the people with medallions are buddies with the people who determine the budget for enforcement.

When the medallion owners all tell their politicans that $agency is terrible and bad for business then $agency gets told to knock it off and/or de-prioritized in next years budget.