Indian-origin taxi driver drove New Yorkers for free for 40 days after 9/11

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 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.Kestenbaum said Singh also showed him a letter from then-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani thanking him for his service to the city.“Gurvinder emigrated from India 35 years ago and encourages all his riders to fly American flags,” Kestenbaum wrote in his post.

Singh also asked Kestenbaum to share a message ahead of the 9/11 anniversary: “Love all people, respect all people. God bless you all, and god bless America!”The post has drawn thousands of reactions online, with users praising Singh for helping New Yorkers after the attacks.Singh’s Sikh identity also became part of the online discussion. Harmeet K Dhillon responded to Kestenbaum’s post, thanking him for sharing the story.“So 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,” she wrote.

Other users similarly praised Singh, with one describing him as “More American than most Americans” and another saying his story represented the kind of immigrant contribution Americans value.

Singh’s story comes at a time when immigration and the treatment of Indian Americans have become the subject of fresh online debate.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 “self-deport or find out”, sparking an online backlash. Critics accused the campaign of being racist and anti-Indian.The post, shared amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, used characters from the Transformers franchise and carried the message: “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr Singh.” The post also drew criticism for appearing to target Indian and Sikh Americans.