New York City cab driver Ala Uddin talks about the city’s recent snow storm, which left city streets covered with snow for days. New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg and the city’s sanitation department have come under fire for taking too long to clear city streets. He talks about whether mayor Bloomberg should be blamed for how the cleanup was handled, and how former mayor Rudy Giuliani handled city snow storms.

For more lively opinion about New York City, Uddin can be found driving cab 3C34. He owns the cab’s medallion.

NEW YORK — New York City taxi driver Richard Horne said the streets of New York are overcrowded with selfish pedestrians and drivers. “New York City is a great place to come to visit, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s a horrible place to work or to live,” Horne said during a recent cab ride. The city is filled with aggressive people and vehicles jockeying for position. Rivera has more to say about the economy, President Barack Obama, and tension in New York City in his video interview with NYC Voices.

Horne is a retired U.S. government law enforcement officer, who didn’t wish to be more specific about his previous job. The U.S. economy has been poor since mid-2008, he said. Yet, business is improving in 2010. “I can’t speak for the other drivers,” he said. “I do exceptionally well.”

Other taxi drivers would also do well if they focused on their customers and careful driving, instead of fighting other drivers.

“Most New York City problems can be solved if people showed common courtesy to each other,” he told NYC Voices.

NEW YORK — Al Rivera has been hawking goods on the streets of New York City for the past 30 years. He loves meeting people as they check out his hats, belts, socks and other items, which he sells for about five dollars. Rivera, 56, has been living in a hotel for the past 15 years. “It’s the only way to survive,” Rivera said in an interview this month. He’s a resident of the hotel, which is in the city, and feels fortunate to make a living on the streets of Manhattan.

Many days during the past 18 months, Rivera makes about $30, he said. “It’s about survival.” When consumers spent more and the U.S. economy was in better shape a couple of years ago, it was common for Rivera to make $100 a day, he said.

What’s next for the economy? Commercial real estate is hurting and will likely get worse, Rivera said. Many retail tenants are not able to pay the rent, he observed from behind his table of goods on the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue on a cold January afternoon.

Rivera sells wholesale goods that he buys from suppliers from countries including China. As the U.S. dollar has grown weaker, his product choices have also dwindled, he said. Rivera shared more insights on retail, the U.S. economy and China in our video interview.