You Don’t Say?

Cab drivers actually get higher tips with credit card transactions:

Cabbies are getting bigger tips thanks to their new credit-card machines, according to statistics obtained by The Post.

Both the Taxi and Limousine Commission and a drivers union said cash transactions on average result in a 10 to 15 percent tip for drivers.

But credit-card customers are bigger spenders. They gave an average 16 percent tip during three weeks in December.

Still, some drivers complain that their tips are getting wiped out because they are charged up to 5 percent for credit transactions.

“A beggar has no choice,” said cabby Gabriele Edet, 72, when asked what he thought about the credit-card fee.

OK, so what actually is the credit card transaction fee? They always say five percent, but apparently that’s the high end of the spectrum.

Some Things Just Probably Shouldn’t Be

$500,000-a-month rent? “Frivolous” seems like the wrong word here:

It could be the last call for anything at the storied Rainbow Room this weekend.

The ritzy watering hole, where generations of celebs from Frank Sinatra to Keith Richards have performed and partied, got an eviction notice Friday.

The Cipriani family announced last week that its restaurant operation at the Rainbow Grill would be suspended Monday due to the recession – but the bar would remain open and the dance floor would keep revolving.

But in canceling its lease with Cipriani, landlord Tishman Speyer Properties said there will be no more anything at the legendary nightspot as of Monday.

Tishman said it lowered the boom because the Rainbow Room was four months behind in $500,000-a-month rent.

Cipriani called the eviction notice a “frivolous” attempt by the owners to convert the Rainbow Room into more profitable office space and vowed to keep the iconic venue open until its lease expires in 2013.

Actually I’m Pretty Sure I Saw A Homeless Guy Nonchalantly Toss It Into A Gutter About 18 Months Ago

This guy again! They still haven’t found those rare valuable pennies he unleashed back in ’06:

Noted coin dealer Scott Travers announced three years ago he had released three rare and valuable pennies into circulation, but none of the coins has been reported found.

“Not only does it appear that these three pennies are out there waiting for someone to cash them in for a pretty penny, there are lots of others that are just like them that are out there,” said Travers, author of the book “One-Minute Coin Expert.”

In a bid to encourage a new generation of coin collectors, Travers parted with the three one-cent coins in April 2006.

He put the first — a 1914-D Lincoln cent valued at $300 — toward a pretzel at a vendor outside the Nasdaq offices at 4 Times Square.

Days later, Travers spent a 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cent valued at $1,000 on a bottle of water he purchased at a different vendor in Times Square. He then walked a block to a newsstand and dispensed a 1908-S Indian Head cent worth $250.

In the weeks after his high-profile stunt, seven people came forward saying they found the $1,000 coin Travers gave up.

“The coins were real, but none of them was mine,” Travers said.

If You Thought GPS Was An Invasion Of Privacy . . .

. . . just wait for the digital cameras:

Cabbies who weave in and out of traffic, slam on their brakes or sideswipe bicyclists better think twice — Big Brother will soon be watching.

The city plans to mount digital cameras on a handful of taxis to see if they help detect reckless driving.

. . .

Cameras on the outside of cabs is something new — and struck the wrong chord with Bhairavi Desai, president of the Taxi Worker’s Alliance, a drivers’ advocacy group.

“I thought in America the law was you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Desai said. “This would absolutely be an invasion of privacy. It’s intrusive.”

Earlier: Privacy Concerns — Quaint Like A Checker Cab.

Sounds Like The Greatest Job Ever!

What happens when the boss is under house arrest:

Every day, dozens of employees of swindler Bernard Madoff’s firm report to their Midtown offices. They’re still paid — but they do no work.

The phones at Madoff Securities are turned off. The few computers that remain aren’t plugged in.

“It’s pretty bad,” one employee said. “We can’t conduct any business. We basically get there at 9, hang around, and go home at 5. It’s surreal. It’s also scary, because we don’t know what’s going on.

“We’re basically just sitting around and waiting for the call that dismisses us,” he said.