In Real Life, a common means of transportation in urban environments is to take a taxi. As a result the Taxi makes a cameo in many stories, is a plot point in several of them, and in some may be the whole point of the story. Especially likely to be seen in New York City or its fictional equivalents. A Taxi in New York is likely to be old-fashioned '50s-style Checker models * The last of which was [...] [tvtropes.org]