{"id":22949,"date":"2026-09-11T12:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=22949"},"modified":"2026-09-11T12:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:44:16","slug":"indian-origin-taxi-driver-drove-new-yorkers-for-free-for-40-days-after-9-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=22949","title":{"rendered":"Indian-origin taxi driver drove New Yorkers for free for 40 days after 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134066851,imgsize-145078,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg\" alt=\"Indian-origin taxi driver drove New Yorkers for free for 40 days after 9\/11\" title=\"Indian-origin taxi driver Gurvinder Singh.\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Indian-origin taxi driver Gurvinder Singh.\">Indian-origin taxi driver Gurvinder Singh.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>An Indian immigrant taxi driver who reportedly gave hundreds of free rides to New Yorkers for 40 days after the <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/september-11-attacks\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">September 11 attacks<\/a> has gone viral online as the US marks the 25th anniversary of 9\/11.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>Shabbos Kestenbaum shared the story on X, saying his taxi driver, <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/gurvinder-singh\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gurvinder Singh<\/a>, told him he was at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. <!-- -->According to Kestenbaum, Singh continued helping New Yorkers afterward by giving rides to those who needed them and refusing payment.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>Kestenbaum said Singh also showed him a letter from then-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani thanking him for his service to the city.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>\u201cGurvinder emigrated from India 35 years ago and encourages all his riders to fly American flags,\u201d Kestenbaum wrote in his post.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>Singh also asked Kestenbaum to share a message ahead of the 9\/11 anniversary: \u201cLove all people, respect all people. God bless you all, and god bless America!\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>The post has drawn thousands of reactions online, with users praising Singh for helping New Yorkers after the attacks.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>Singh\u2019s Sikh identity also became part of the online discussion. Harmeet K Dhillon responded to Kestenbaum\u2019s post, thanking him for sharing the story.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>\u201cSo many Sikhs are proud Americans, here legally and for generations, and providing a dignified and legal service to their fellow Americans as independent business owners,\u201d she wrote.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>Other users similarly praised Singh, with one describing him as \u201cMore American than most Americans\u201d and another saying his story represented the kind of immigrant contribution Americans value.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>Singh\u2019s story comes at a time when immigration and the treatment of Indian Americans have become the subject of fresh online debate.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/>The development comes days after the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted an AI-generated message on X targeting immigrants, including Indian Americans, with the warning \u201cself-deport or find out\u201d, sparking an online backlash. Critics accused the campaign of being racist and anti-Indian.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>The post, shared amid the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown, used characters from the Transformers franchise and carried the message: \u201cGet off our roads, you don\u2019t know how to drive Mr Singh.\u201d The post also drew criticism for appearing to target Indian and Sikh Americans.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/us\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-drove-new-yorkers-for-free-for-40-days-after-9\/11\/articleshow\/134064233.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indian-origin taxi driver Gurvinder Singh. An Indian immigrant taxi driver who reportedly gave hundreds of free rides to New Yorkers for 40 days after the September 11 attacks has gone viral online as the US marks the 25th anniversary of 9\/11.Shabbos Kestenbaum shared the story on X, saying his taxi driver, Gurvinder Singh, told him [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Indian-origin taxi driver Gurvinder Singh. An Indian immigrant taxi driver who reportedly gave hundreds of free rides to New Yorkers for 40 days after the September 11 attacks has gone viral online as the US marks the 25th anniversary of 9\/11.Shabbos Kestenbaum shared the story on X, saying his taxi driver, Gurvinder Singh, told him [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":2,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/indian-origin-taxi-driver-gurvinder-singh.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}