The battle between feuding double-decker tour bus firms is heating up — with new claims that drivers at one of many firms are handled so poorly, that they abandon the big autos in the midst of Instances Sq..
That’s in keeping with TopView — sued final month for allegedly attempting to honk out a smaller competitor — which filed a blistering counterclaim Monday calling the claims in opposition to it “false” and an effort by the opposite tour bus firm “to distract from their very own document of misconduct.”
Aurora Tourism Providers “have been violating laws necessities in order to keep away from truthful competitors, whereas offering an inferior service to shoppers and negatively impacting the hop on hop off bus trade status,” TopView claims.
An Aurora driver was even “noticed publicly complaining about unpaid wages and abandoning [the company’s] bus in the midst of Instances Sq. in protest,” in keeping with the Manhattan Supreme Courtroom submitting.
Aurora — often known as Iconic Excursions — always runs afoul of the legislation by not registering their buses with correct companies, working autos with out permits or license plates and storing their buses in a single day on public streets, Prime View’s submitting claims.
The corporate additionally accuses Aurora of utilizing unlicensed ticket sellers to dupe vacationers, making unauthorized bus stops and choosing fights with visitors brokers, in keeping with the court docket paperwork.
Claims TopView beforehand made in federal court docket that Aurora staff intentionally don related uniforms as theirs and trick prospects into believing they’re the a lot bigger operator are additionally included within the new submitting.
However since Aurora filed its personal salacious go well with in opposition to TopView in October — accusing the competitor of beating up its staff and harassing its prospects with weed smoke and megaphones — a slew of recent, documented claims of illegality at the moment are within the public document.
TopView, which operates a fleet of over 40 buses, claims to have documented practically 100 situations the place an Aurora bus was lacking a car license plate on the entrance of the bus, in keeping with a 39-page spreadsheet submitted as a part of their submitting.
Vacationer buses should additionally affix a license plate from the town Division of Employee and Shopper Safety to the entrance of their autos always, however TopView claims in that very same spreadsheet that they’ve documented 389 situations of Aurora buses lacking the required plates whereas in operation.
Additionally within the spreadsheet are claims that Aurora, who has operated a fleet of 4 double-decker buses since 2022, makes use of unauthorized bus stops that aren’t a part of their Division of Transportation permitted stops.
“On quite a few events,” the submitting reads, Aurora has “operated at the very least two completely different buses with the identical license plate on the similar time, and/or operated a bus with an unlawful license plate, in violation [sic] DOT, DMV, and insurance coverage legal guidelines and laws.”
TopView additionally claims that Aurora ticket sellers are hawking tickets with out their required DWCP license displayed, and that they dupe prospects into pondering they’re boarding a TopView bus, in keeping with the submitting.
“This submitting demonstrates our unwavering dedication to defending our rights and holding Aurora accountable for his or her actions,” stated Asen Kostadinov, of TopView, in a press release to The Submit.
A rep for Aurora disputed TopView’s declare that one in all their staff had deserted a bus, saying the corporate’s submitting failed to say that the car had suffered a mechanical failure and damaged down at an authorized cease and didn’t impede visitors.
Aurora’s legal professional, Brandon Walters, stated the corporate is “compliant with all relevant laws,” and makes use of a compliance agency to that impact.
“Aurora denies any allegation that it operates in an unauthorized or unlawful method,” Walters advised The Submit.
The Aurora rep stated that “entrance stickers or plates are generally lacking as a result of they’re stolen” and that the corporate “has not been in a position to establish the vandals.”
Walters additionally despatched The Submit photographs of six DWCP ticket vendor licenses, in addition to their DWCP and DOT permits for tour bus operations, along with 10 DOT sightseeing bus cease permits.
Aurora is allowed to make the most of a number of different stops which can be presently underneath assessment by the DOT, he added.
“Aurora’s compliance with relevant laws is a matter of public document,” Walters stated. “Nobody must be a vigilante enforcer of the New York Metropolis Administrative Code.”
DCWP, the company largely tasked with regulating vacationer buses, declined to touch upon the allegations due to an ongoing investigation, however a spokesperson advised The Submit that DCWP has issued Aurora two violations over the previous two years for car points.
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