NYC tourist bus company fight escalates with new allegations including vehicle abandoned in middle of Times Square

War Conflict between double-decker tour bus companies The situation is escalating with new allegations that drivers at one of the companies were treated so badly that they abandoned huge vehicles in the middle of Times Square.

According to TopView, this is — A lawsuit was filed last month He filed a scathing countersuit on Monday for allegedly trying to silence a smaller rival by honking his horn, arguing that the allegations against him were “false” and that the other tour bus company was an effort to “distract attention from its own record of misconduct.”

TopView alleges that Aurora Tourism Services “breached regulatory requirements to prevent fair competition, while also providing lower quality service to consumers and negatively impacting the reputation of the hop-on-hop-off bus industry.”

One Aurora driver was even seen “complaining publicly about unpaid fares and abandoning his (company’s) bus in the middle of Times Square in protest,” according to a Manhattan Supreme Court filing.

Top View alleges that Aurora, also known as Iconic Tours, consistently violates the law by failing to register its buses with the appropriate agencies, operating vehicles without permission or license plates, and keeping its buses parked on public streets overnight.

The company also accuses Aurora of using unlicensed ticket sellers, building unauthorized bus stops and fighting with traffic agencies to deceive tourists, according to court documents.

The new filing also includes allegations that TopView had previously made in federal court, that Aurora employees deliberately wore uniforms similar to their own and misled customers into believing they were much larger operators.

But since Aurora filed its own salacious lawsuit against TopView in October — accusing the rival of beating its workers and harassing its customers with weed smoke and a bullhorn — a number of new, documented allegations of illegality are now on the public record.

TopView, which operates a fleet of more than 40 buses, claims to have documented nearly 100 instances where a license plate was missing from the front of an Aurora bus, according to a 39-page spreadsheet submitted as part of their application.

Tourist buses are also required to wear a license plate from the City Department of Labor and Consumer Protection on the front of their vehicle at all times, but TopView claims in the same spreadsheet that they documented 389 instances of Aurora buses missing the required license plates. Operation.

Also included in the spreadsheet are allegations that Aurora, which has operated a fleet of four double-decker buses since 2022, used unauthorized bus stops that were not part of Department of Transportation-permitted stops.

“On multiple occasions,” Aurora operated at least two different buses with the same license plate at the same time and/or operated a bus with an illegal license plate in violation of DOT, DMV, the filing states. and insurance laws and regulations.”

TopView also alleges Aurora ticket sellers sold tickets without displaying required DWCP licenses and deceived customers into thinking they would be boarding a TopView bus, according to the filing.

“This filing demonstrates our unwavering determination to defend our rights and hold Aurora accountable for its actions,” TopView’s Asen Kostadinov said in a statement to The Post.

A representative for Aurora disputed TopView’s claim that one of its employees abandoned the bus, saying the company’s filing made no mention that the vehicle suffered a mechanical failure, broke down at an approved stop, and was not obstructing traffic.

Aurora’s attorney, Brandon Walters, said the company is “in compliance with all applicable regulations” and has utilized a compliance firm for that purpose.

“Aurora denies any allegation that it is operating in an unauthorized or illegal manner,” Walters told The Post.

An Aurora representative said that “front tags or license plates are sometimes missing because they were stolen” and that the company “was unable to detect vandals.”

Walters also sent The Post images of six DWCP ticket vendor licenses and their DWCP and DOT permits for tour bus operations, as well as 10 DOT tour bus stop permits.

He added that Aurora was allowed to use several other stops that are currently being reviewed by the DOT.

“Aurora’s compliance with applicable regulations is a matter of public record,” Walters said. “No person should be a vigilante enforcer of the New York City Administrative Code.”

DCWP, the agency largely charged with regulating tourist buses, declined to comment on the allegations due to an ongoing investigation, but a spokesperson told The Post that DCWP has issued two violations to Aurora for vehicle problems in the past two years.