Rep. Anthony Weiner, who’s made himself a top New York parking scold by loudly complaining about UN diplomats who fail to pay parking tickets, racked up a whopping $2,180 in violations himself in Washington, according to a bombshell report.
The shameful tally took place from March 2006 to March 2010.
And he didn’t pay up until a few days ago, when Capitol Hill paper Roll Call shamed him into finally writing a personal check.
Weiner was by far the biggest congressional scofflaw cited in the report, which was based on an exhaustive canvass of assigned congressional parking spots around Washington that came up with the license plates of cars belonging to 300 members of Congress.
The No. 2 scofflaw uncovered in the story was Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who ran up $860 in tickets — 40 percent of Weiner’s total.
Like many motorists, many members of Congress have racked up one or two tickets, the report found. Some DC parking tickets go for as little as $20 a pop — way less than a violation in Manhattan.
Weiner racked up his spectacular stack for a variety of violations on a dozen occasions — even though members of Congress are afforded assigned parking spaces around Washington, and cannot be ticketed when they’re on official business.
Sometimes Weiner’s parked Nissan SUV was cited for multiple violations — such as on March 3, 2010, when he was fined $400 for blocking rush-hour traffic and for failing to display current license plates when he parked on Maryland Avenue NE, several blocks east of the Capitol.
And Weiner managed to total three violations one day in June 2007 when he got $340 in tickets for failing to display current license plates, failing to display an inspection sticker, and parking at a taxi stand near the FDR Memorial.
Weiner (D-Queens/Brooklyn) didn’t pay up until Roll Call asked about the tickets, the paper said.
“All of the congressman’s parking tickets have been paid. He is pleased to have helped decrease the DC budget deficit,” Weiner spokesman Dave Arnold told Roll Call.
Weiner’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post. He does not have any outstanding tickets in New York City, according to records.
Weiner has griped repeatedly about parking tickets racked up by UN diplomats in New York. A year ago, he issued a press release complaining that foreign governments owed $18 million in parking tickets.
“It’s insulting to all New Yorkers that countries like Yemen, Zimbabwe and Iran owe the city millions in unpaid parking tickets,” Weiner said then.
He went on: “Diplomats park illegally, ignore paying their parking tickets and expect New Yorkers to pick up the tab. This needs to end.”
(Source: NY Post)
One Response
Only goes to prove,‘He doth protesteth too much’…..