Hi Judy,
Many taxi cab drivers will actually pick you up. I never once had a problem when I had Scarlett. Morgaine was terrifed of cars so it never came up. Aquitaine will actually try to get in taxi's if she sees people getting out and the driver's usually just chuckle.
Oh, I hope if Darren is on the UWS that I get a chance to meet him.
I don't know about any others but my girl is only ever off leash within the enclosure of the small dog run. Someone used to run Scarlett for me at night in the Rambles in CP but that stopped when she started being independent on when she would return. Without instant recall, she lost her offleash privileges. Too risky.
Carron