While they may not have removed it entirely, they've severely damaged the existing taxi industry, which was slow to change and had tons of issues itself (like selling medallions that let you be a driver for hundreds of thousands of dollars and drivers no longer making enough to pay that back now that Uber is in town).

According to the article below, in 2013 a medallion in NYC reached a cost of $1.3 million, but has crashed as low as $240k since Uber and Lyft started operating. The drivers that bought it when they were expensive are probably really struggling right now.

Uber and Lyft have since made it clear that the medallion is an unnecessary expense, so in a way it's a good thing, but meanwhile the drivers that bought into it are screwed.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-is-a-nyc-taxi-medallio...