The driver returned 31 diamond rings he found in his cab after dropping off the passenger, who had left him with a 30-cent tip on a $10.70 fare.
"All my life, I tried to be honest," said Osman Chowdhury, a native of Bangladesh. "Today is no different."
But the 41-year-old cabbie from Queens did have a message: "I'm proud of what I did so that people know New York taxi drivers are honest."
He said it never occurred to him to keep the diamonds.
"I'm not going to take someone else's money or property to make me rich. I don't want it that way," said the soft-spoken cabbie, who was a contractor in Bangladesh until he came to the United States 15 years ago.
He does not own a cab but rents one.
"I enjoy my life. I'm satisfied," said Chowdhury, who is single.
He didn't even mind the meager tip.
"I think some people might be broke," he said. "Or they're distracted."
