Cafe Maddy Cab: Safety Rides for AAPI

In NYC, Asians are commuting in constant fear. In January 2022, Michelle Go was murdered by a stranger who pushed her into the subway tracks. In February, Christina Yuna Lee was followed into her apartment in Chinatown and was murdered by a stranger. A few weeks later, a 67-year-old Asian woman was punched over a hundred times, by a man yelling racial slurs. 

Cafe Maddy Cab is a crowdfunded organization that provides essential taxi rides for the vulnerable Asian population in NYC. Our mission is to help the AAPI community feel safe in their essential travels.

In 2021, Maddy Park started Cafe Maddy Cab to reimburse taxi rides for the Asian Elderly, women, and LGBTQIA+ community with her donation of $2,000. The same night, her social media post went viral, and a community across the nation came together to pool $100,000 for the cause. The donations soon became $250,000, and Cafe Maddy Cab became a fully operating volunteer-based organization that paid for over 7,800 rides for the NYC Asian population.

When we closed in 2021, it was our only hope that Cafe Maddy Cab would never be needed again. 4 months into 2022, however, the reality of NYC seems to say otherwise. We are back because we wish Michelle Go had taken a taxi to work that day. We wish the elderly Asian woman was dropped off at her door, leaving no room for someone to beat her to the ground because she was Asian. We are back because it could have been any of us.

In May 2022, Cafe Maddy Cab is relaunching with a goal to run as long as we are needed in our community. Under the fiscal sponsorship of the Asian Pacific Community Fund (registered 501(c)3 charity), we are operating as a 100% volunteer-based team. This means your donation is tax-deductible and that almost 95% of your donation goes straight to someone's safe ride home.

Thank you for donating to this cause. The cab ride you pay for means so much more than just a cab ride to the AAPI community. It's a sigh of relief, a sign that we are not alone. Every ride is a hope that things will get better.