Those special license plates issued to visiting diplomats don’t excuse them from parking tickets, the Wall Street Journal reports. Apparently, delegates from over 180 countries owe the city more than $16 million in unpaid summons.
However, almost all off the debt — $15.6 million — was incurred before 2002, when Mayor Bloomberg cracked down on the blue-plated bastards, punishing unpaid summons by refusing hundreds of registration renewals and forcing 70 to surrender their special plates.
As it stands, Egypt is the biggest offender, owing $1,970,580 (with only $5,000 incurred since 2002), followed by Nigeria ($894,625) and Indonesia ($738,700).
Since the world’s representatives are gathering at the United Nations General Assembly this week, the Wall Street Journal accosted a few of the delegates about these overdue parking issues. They responded with “a mixture of chagrin and annoyance,” specifically, “I don’t have details about the subject, unfortunately” (Egypt) and “I don’t know why I should be the one to talk” (Nigeria).
See live coverage of UN discussing extremely important climate matters at the Guardian.
(Photo: @frandrakesphoto)
