Bloomberg the paternalistic tyrant

Taxi big adds new charges to suit against Bloomberg after mayor's profanity-laced tirade

By BOB FREDERICKS

The taxi magnate who said he was subjected to a profanity-laced rant by Mayor Bloomberg has filed a federal lawsuit charging the mayor with threatening him and siccing TLC inspectors on his fleet in retaliation for his opposition to the “Taxi of Tomorrow” plan.

The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court late yesterday, accuses Bloomberg and TLC chief David Yassky of ordering inspectors to dump a blizzard of bogus tickets - totaling about $3.5 million - on cabs operated by Taxi Club Management CEO Gene Freidman.

“It’s deeply disappointing and terribly disturbing that the mayor will use his powers to try to beat people who disagree with him into oblivion,” said Steve Mintz, the lawyer representing Freidman.

The suit is an amended version of an earlier suit Freidman had filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, but contains the new allegations against Bloomberg and Yassky.

The TLC has imposed $85,000 in fines on one of Freidman’s medallions and similar penalties are in the works against dozens of other medallions, adding up to roughly $3.5 million in penalties, Mintz said.

Yassky, according to the suit, offered to revoke the fines in exchange for Freidman dropping his challenge to the mayor’s plan.

“In other words, Yassky was offering to exercise his discretion in a manner favorable to Freidman in exchange for a benefit in the form of political support for Taxi of Tomorrow,” the suit charges.

Freidman had originally sued the city to stop Bloomberg’s pet “Taxi of Tomorrow” plan, which would replace the existing fleet of hacks with new, gas-burning Nissan minivans.

A Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled against the mayor’s plan last week.

A day later, asThe Post first reported Wednesday, Bloomberg heaped abuse on Freidman in a private club at Madison Square Garden during a Knicks game, threatening to “destroy your f--king industry” once he leaves office in January.

“These are the acts of a big, bad bully. It’s Putin-esque,” a source close to Freidman told The Post this morning, comparing Bloomberg to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The amended federal suit seeks a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.

Bloomberg spokeswoman Julie Wood scoffed at the suit.

“It’s not uncommon for disturbed and angry people to file lawsuits against the Mayor and the City of New York. This is another effort by Mr. Friedman to avoid hundreds of thousands in fines for constantly cheating taxi drivers,” she said.