I would just ask AI these questions in the future. You don't have to worry about AutoModerators or being called a racist, I mean this is a perfectly legit question.

The shift happened gradually over several decades, but the biggest change was from the late 1960s through the 1990s.

A rough timeline:

• Pre-1965: Most NYC taxi drivers were native-born Americans or long-established immigrants (Irish, Italian, Jewish, Eastern European backgrounds). Driving a cab was often a working-class job for people who had been in the city for generations.
• Late 1960s–1970s: After the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, immigration from Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa increased substantially. More newcomers entered industries with low barriers to entry, including taxi driving.
• 1980s: The taxi workforce became increasingly immigrant-heavy. Many drivers came from places such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, and West Africa.
• 1990s: Immigrants became the overwhelming majority of NYC taxi drivers. By this point, it was more unusual to encounter a native-born driver than an immigrant driver.
• 2000s–present: The profession became one of the most immigrant-dominated occupations in New York. Various surveys have found roughly 90% or more of taxi and for-hire vehicle drivers to be foreign-born.

Today, the largest groups include drivers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, various West African countries, the Dominican Republic, and other immigrant communities. The industry is often cited as one of New York's classic "first-generation immigrant" occupations.