While most taxi drivers are known for zigzagging all over city streets, Fabio Peralta is extra careful to avoid potholes and short stops. That's because someone could be creating a masterpiece in his backseat.
Peralta has turned his yellow cab into an art studio. When a passenger hops in, the 40-year veteran cabbie hands the rider a pen and a stack of computer paper. He tells his fares to draw anything they want.
Some passengers initially hesitate, deferring to their lack of artistic talent. But Peralta tells all his riders – from doctors to lawyers to bankers to whoever – that they can become artists in his cab, according to The New York Post.
So far, the Dominican Republic native has collected 7,000 sketches. Works include depictions of a hummingbird, mountain cabin scenes, President Barack Obama and some X-rated images.
Other passengers use the paper he supplies to write personal confessions, which Peralta says he doesn't read "because that's their business," he told the Post.
When he gets enough drawings, he binds them into glossy booklets and gives them away for free to riders who participate in another of his pet projects: 30-second video skits of passengers.
Peralta's gotten videos of more than 200 passengers already and hopes to make a movie out of them one day, he told the Post.
The cabbie asks passengers to create art because he says it helps take their minds off everyday stress. It also helps him get some extra tips.
"Sometimes people will hand over an extra dollar or two instead of waiting for change," Peralta told the Post. "Maybe one day I'll cut a deal with Barnes & Noble and have the book in there."
