Passengers took to the subway or shared rides in lighter-than-usual traffic as drivers of the city's signature yellow cabs halted work in anger at plans to introduce satellite positioning systems in their cars.

"Leave the taxis parked home or at the garage. No yellow cabs for hire in the streets or at the airports," said Bhairavi Desai, leader of the Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents about 10,000 of the city's 44,000 professional drivers.

Desai claimed only 10 percent of the 13,000 registered taxis were on the streets, while a rival union, the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, which did not support the strike, said 80 percent were at work.

"We know that if some drivers are working today that is simply because the conditions of the industry are so hard, with the workers not paid properly, with no health insurance and no proper compensation," Desai said.

The lack of cabs, in the first stoppage since 1998, was plain to the eye in Manhattan, where an estimated 800,000 passengers travel by taxi every day.

"For me it was awful," said Blanca Rosa Roca, a businesswoman. "I had four meetings today and I was just able to get a cab once. So I walked a lot."

Drivers who continued to work kept on their lights signaling they are available even when they had passengers, after Mayor Michael Bloomberg Tuesday called on them to encourage passengers to share.

"We will not tolerate drivers who want to disrupt this city intimidating or threatening their fellow drivers who are interested in making a living and providing a service to New Yorkers," Bloomberg warned.

Private limousine services picked up some of the slack as thousands poured into New York for the scores of shows of Fashion Week and the semifinal and final round of the US Open tennis championship.

Taxi drivers have complained that proposals by the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) requiring them to install the satellite systems by October 1 infringe on their rights.

"Taxi drivers sometimes use the cars in their private time. Why should they tell the TLC where they are going on a Sunday with their family? This is an invasion of privacy," Desai told AFP earlier.

The satellite system also includes a monitor for passengers to follow their route, check news and weather, view advertisements, and pay their fare by bank card.

"We are against a technology where you can have ads in the back seat as a priority over health insurance for working people who labor 60 to 70 hours a week serving 800,000 people a day," Desai said.

According to taxi drivers' groups, the devices cost more than 5,000 dollars to install and will inform the commission where they are, how many trips they have taken and how much they took in fares.

The strike drew widespread criticism, from Bloomberg's office as well as some of the city's newspapers.

Ed Ott, Executive Director of the New York City Central Labor Council, praised the strikers and claimed their impact was evident in the diminished number of cabs at Manhattan's main railway terminal.

"They have shown an incredible courage under tremendous opposition with no help from the editorial boards from major newspapers. Quite frankly, if you can't see the difference between yesterday at Penn station and today, you are either blind or you are a tourist," he said.

A commuter who gave his name as Robert shared a taxi and seemed pleased with the ride on strike day. "We had a good conversation and the trip was faster," he said.

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