NYC BRIEFS

Taxi drivers hail plan to install iPads

The proposal to install iPads in taxis is getting the greenlight from drivers who hope it will help them save money.

Since 2007, taxis with credit card meters have been charged a 5 percent fee every time someone pays with plastic. But under a payment system created by Square, the mobile company that wants to introduce the iPads, the transaction fee would be lowered to 2.75 percent.

It's an amount that cabbie Choudhary Anwar, 44, of Midwood, would support.

"If it's less than 5 percent then it's good!" Anwar told amNewYork. "We need to pay less. We're already paying higher gas prices."

As for the iPads themselves, Anwar said riders would probably prefer the tablets over the TVs: "They're always saying, 'This TV is bothering us,' " he said.

-- amNewYork

Judge rules against City Hall on homeless

A controversial change in the city's homeless policy advocated by the Bloomberg administration was dealt a blow Tuesday when a judge ruled that the mayor's office didn't properly notify the public about the proposed change.

The decision by State Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische was a victory for Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who spearheaded a lawsuit against the Department of Homeless Services in November.

Under the proposal, which has yet to be implemented, single adults would be turned away if they have other options for housing, such as staying with family or friends.

City officials plan to appeal the ruling.

-- amNewYork

Police: Gypsy cabbie crashes at JFK Airport

Police say a hustler cabbie who preys on arriving passengers at Kennedy Airport has been arrested -- but not before his Lincoln town car crashed.

Port Authority Police spokesman Al Della Fave said two officers spotted a family of four getting into a gypsy cab. They recognized the driver as a hustler who charges sky-high rates for a ride into Manhattan.

Della Fave says the officers tried to warn the passengers, and the family's teenage son put his hand on the steering wheel.

He says the car crashed into a guardrail and the driver ran.

Driver Bhupinder Singh was arrested on charges including reckless endangerment and resisting arrest. No information on a lawyer was available.

The mother and father of the family were treated for bumps and bruises.

Civil War exhibit to open Wednesday

A new Civil War exhibit in Manhattan features rare and original battle maps and diagrams that were published in the city's leading newspapers during the conflict.

The exhibit was organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center of the Boston Public Library. It showcases 50 historical objects, including maps, photographs, political cartoons and letters. Some of the rare photos depict slave life in the mid-19th century.

The displays include Civil War battle maps and dispatches that were published in newspapers such as The New York Times.

The exhibit, "Torn in Two," marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. It opens Wednesday at the Grolier Club on East 60th Street. The exhibit is open to the public, Monday through Saturday, until late April.

Search continues for hit-run driver

Police are still searching for the hit-run driver who killed a Staten Island nursing student on Feb. 12.

Nancy Tillman tells the Staten Island Advance that the person who killed her son, Ronald, must be tormented. But Tillman says an admission or apology would not change anything in her life. The 29-year-old Wagner College student was hit while riding his bike.

The school held a memorial last week. Next month, a "Ghost Bike" memorial will be installed near the spot where Tillman was killed.

Compiled from wire reports