I was mostly agreeing with the article until this part:
"His medallion, once worth $1.1 million, had plummeted in value to $180,000. The dramatic drop in the value of the medallion, which he had hoped to lease for $3,000 a month or sell to finance his retirement, wiped out his economic security. He faced financial ruin and poverty. And he was not alone."
The medalions are stupid and shouldn't exist. Relying on their "value" for retirement is crazy. And like another commenter has said - if it was worth 1.1 million, why not sell it and retire, perhaps doing a less stressful job than driving a taxi for 12 hours in turns with your wife? It sounds like he gambled - that he could keep working, keep the medallion, and retire while leasing the medallion for $3000/month(!!!!!!!!!!) - and like all gambles, this one had a possibility of failing - and it did.
"His medallion, once worth $1.1 million, had plummeted in value to $180,000. The dramatic drop in the value of the medallion, which he had hoped to lease for $3,000 a month or sell to finance his retirement, wiped out his economic security. He faced financial ruin and poverty. And he was not alone."
The medalions are stupid and shouldn't exist. Relying on their "value" for retirement is crazy. And like another commenter has said - if it was worth 1.1 million, why not sell it and retire, perhaps doing a less stressful job than driving a taxi for 12 hours in turns with your wife? It sounds like he gambled - that he could keep working, keep the medallion, and retire while leasing the medallion for $3000/month(!!!!!!!!!!) - and like all gambles, this one had a possibility of failing - and it did.