Chicago, Illinois -- Thursday, August 29, 2019
Demetrios Manolitsis, who bought 15 medallions at inflated prices, poses for a portrait in his office. Under his hand is a stack of legal paperwork related to taxi medallion loans. He now runs a fleet of vehicles out of King Auto Repair and Body Shop but is not sure he will be able to sustain the business.
Chicago taxi medallions, now worth about $25,000, were once valued at nearly $400,000. The market's crash and predatory loans caused many medallion owners to declare bankruptcy in a situation made worse by the introduction of ride share apps like Lyft and Uber to the market.
CREDIT: Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times
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