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The taxi hustlers who bilk unsuspecting tourists out of illegally high fares at New York City airports are now running schemes far more sophisticated — and brazen — than ever, says a swindler who drove an illegal cab for a half-century before hanging it up last year.
Jan “Rocco” Uzzo is one in a long line of drivers who have made a living over the years by skirting city regulations that require any taxi or for-hire vehicle trip to be operated by a car licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. From the 1970s until he retired last summer, Uzzo would coax tourists into his car at major travel hubs across the city, and charge them a rate higher than what’s legally allowed…