The 52-year-old actor, who has starred opposite Mel Gibson in four Lethal Weapon films, fumed: "It's time to stop sitting around and denying there's a problem and deal with the problem.

Danny Glover at a news conference with his daughter, Mandisa

"It happens to countless people every single day."

Glover was highlighting a common complaint by black people that they often have trouble hailing taxis, even though the cabs are unoccupied and on duty.

He said he decided to file the complaint after five unoccupied taxis bypassed him as he tried to hail a cab in Harlem one day in October.

When one did stop, he said, the driver refused to let him sit in the front seat.

The actor's daughter, Mandisa, and her friend had sat in the back and he wanted to give them more room by sitting next to the driver.

"The fact that I am a celebrity, the fact that I am visible allows me to draw attention to the issue," said Glover, who once starred as a young Nelson Mandela fighting discrimination in South Africa.

His lawyer, Randolph Scott-McLaughlin, said the next step was to meet with officials at the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

The actor, who lives in San Francisco but visits New York regularly, wants new cabbies to meet with black New Yorkers as part of their training. He has also offered to help the commission develop a new training video.

Commission spokesman Allan Fromberg said the city's taxi regulator planned to investigate Glover's complaint aggressively and listen to his suggestions.

"We already have a cultural diversity process in place in the educational curriculum," Fromberg said.

"We think Mr Glover is going to be very impressed with that, but we'd be happy to listen to his suggestions about how we can improve upon that if possible."