New York celebrates taxi centennial

If the image of a New York City taxi is any one thing, it's yellow — as splashy as a warning sign and as single-minded as a crayon.

But an estimated 30,000 New Yorkers are about to put personal stamps on its archetypal cabs by painting bold floral decals, destined to be plastered on taxis from September through December. The stickers are marks of a metropolitan milestone — the centennial of the city's metered vehicles for hire — and measures of an expanding definition of public art.

Supporters envision the project, called Garden in Transit, as kaleidoscopic artwork on a massive civic canvas, with the general public as artist. Organizers recently set up a studio in a historic hotel ballroom and are inviting anyone interested in painting to go to the project's Web site, http://www.gardenintransit.org.
"The city will look more vibrant, and this just sets New York apart from all the other cities that have transportation that's so bland," Evelisse Viamontee, 13, said after painting a panel — in sky blue, teal and lavender — at the studio on a recent morning.

City Taxi & Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus called it "just a great way to marry art and history."

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