Taxi TV fans in NYC’s outer boroughs: poll

Most riders outside of Brooklyn and Manhattan actually welcome the TVs on taxi backseats, a poll found Monday.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll found that of its 1,155 respondents across the five boroughs, the majority of those who ride taxis in Queens, Bronx and Staten Island said the Taxi TVs are a “pleasant diversion.”

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Only a clear majority of Manhattanites — 57 percent — described the TVs as an annoyance, along with 46 percent of Brooklynites.

But 60 percent of Bronxites, 55 percent of Queensites and 45 percent of Staten Islanders disagreed.

Overall, barely more respondents said they’d rather keep the screens than not: 45 percent compared to 40 percent opposed.

The poll, conducted between Oct. 22 and 28, came right after the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission announced it would explore phasing out Taxi TV in favor of a more modern system that would hook up with a GPS-based meter.

The TLC’s pilot program is expected to run at least a year, with the earliest phase out of Taxi TV possible by 2017 — if the pilot succeeds.

Meanwhile, polled New Yorkers are equally split over the app-based Uber. Poised as the modern-day rival to the yellow cab industry, only 21 percent of those New Yorkers asked said they’ve used Uber.

A majority of respondents, 41 percent, said they turn to traditional car services over either Uber or cabs.

Half of respondents said limiting the number of Uber cars to reduce street congestion — as recently proposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and dashed soon after on the heels of an agreement between the city and the start up — would not work.

Some 58 percent of respondents also said any limits on Uber by elected officials is a result of pressure tied to donations from the yellow cab industry, an accusation lobbed at de Blasio and echoing similar results from August polling.

The latest poll had amargin of error of 2.9 points.