The folks behind the NYC Taxi Drivers Calendar, which features hot and quirky cab drivers each year, are pulling the parking brake on its publication. This year’s calendar will be the last, the creators say.
Phil and Shannon Kirkman, who launched the calendar seven years ago, announced that this year’s calendar would be their last on the third page of the 2020 edition.
“It’s been quite a ride, punctuated by so many memorable experiences — from feather-haired Alex posing with a 10-foot python to nearly-nude Dan popping out of his trunk to Hassan eating from a cake with his face on it,” they said in the letter to calendar owners. “Over the course of 80+ photo shoots, these intrepid men and women stepped outside their comfort zones to be a part of a project that we hope has been as humanizing as it has been funny.”
When asked why they wanted to stop publishing, Phil Kirkman told amNewYork that they wanted to stop while they were ahead.
“Creatively, we feel like we took the idea to its limit,” he said. “Over the past couple of years, and this year especially, we found that we were running into ourselves more and more. There was a lot of ‘we’ve already kind of done that,’ and to us, keeping it fresh and unique has always been the top priority. It was really important for us to go out on a high note.”
This year’s cover feature drivers Sadi, who poses through an empty frame; Alex, who in rubber ducky swim trunks, squeezes a sponge of water over his head; Hassan, who flexes his muscles while fixing a pothole, and Dorothy, a female driver who poses several times around her car in a single photo.
The calendar features two female drivers (Arminda and Dorothy); eight cabbies from eight different countries; and 10 immigrant drivers with first-time representation from Haiti and Peru. The calendar is $14.99 at nyctaxicalendar.com.
The calendar was first published in 2013 by the Kirkmans, a married couple — Phil is a writer and director and Shannon is a photographer.
It was meant as a way to make people laugh but it raised more than $70,000 for University Settlement, a nonprofit that provides services for immigrant families.
Scroll down for a sneak peek at this year’s calendar hotties.
