I guess you have to meet the rule TAXICAB OWNERS:

§1-09 (b): An independent owner, while not required to double shift his vehicle,
is nevertheless required to provide service to the public on a regular
basis. An independent owner must provide service for at least two
hundred ten (210) nine (9) hour shifts in every calendar year. An
independent owner who obtained the medallion through a transfer on
or after January 7, 1990 must drive the taxicab himself to fulfill the
above-stated requirement. In the event that the independent taxicab
owner is a corporation or partnership, then one shareholder or partner,
as the case may be, must fulfill such requirement. Upon written
request by an owner, the Commission may waive or modify the
requirements of this rule, for a limited time, for good cause shown.

Then I guess if you don't want to drive you have to create a corporation or partnership.

You can buy a medallion also from TLC auction.

You can review TAXICAB OWNERS RULES here:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/ownrules.pdf

I have read that but i guess what i mean is can i just lease out the vehicle to other drivers and not have to drive myself? Does the TLC monitor this rule at all? I do not want to buy a medallion then get stuck with it.

All the previous answers were a little confusing, so let me clear it all up. Essentially, there are two types of medallions

1) Independent/Individual- these names are uses interchangeabley. They can be owned by one person, a partnership, an LLC, or a corporation, but all the owners/partners/members or shareholders can only have ownership interest in that one medallion. Btw, if you plan to buy a medallion, form a corporation to do so, or else your other ASSets are on the line. Also, one of them has to have a hack license, and one of the owners has to drive the car 210 9 hour shifts per year. The rest of the time, it can be leased out, or sit empty. The 210 shifts can theoretically can be done straight, leaving about 5-7 months, depending on how much one slept of duty to have the car leased out full time. 42% of the medallions are individual medallions. Since there is a listed driver driving the car, these cars are allowed to stay on the road 5 years, more for minivans. The insurance is also cheaper but all drivers must be listed and only 3 are allowed, which means that overall the costs of operating an individual is a little less than a corporate, which is why you can get a better deal from an individual owner. 550k now for a regular, 460k for a handicapped. Expect to come up with at least 65k for the down payment and the car down payment, and again, someone must drive who is an owner.

2) Corporate/Minifleet Medallions- These MUST be owned by a corporation, are bought in lots of two, are 58% of the medallions out there, sell for 700k each regular, like 625 handicapped, have higher insurance, must be double shifted, usually only last 3 years because there is no steady driver listed, can let anyone with a hack license drive, have higher insurance payments, and you can own any number or be a partial owner of more than one minifleet set. Brokers prefer to deal with these, as there are no limitations on the shifts, so turning them over and retiring to Tahiti when they are paid off is a nice retirement, and currently the brokers pay about 2100/mo to manage your medallion, each. So can you buy a medallion and not have to drive? Yes- but you will only need around 200k for each corporate medallion, or 400k total, for you to even begin to think sipping Mai-Tais in Tahiti.

Good Luck,

Antolin