UN diplomatic impunity 

By Michael Saul
January 16, 2007
The New York Daily News
Original Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/01-16-2007/news/local/story/489036p-411849c.html


Four years after the city and the State Department finalized a historic deal to crack down on diplomat parking scofflaws, the city is still owed $18 million from deadbeat countries. 
Leading the pack is Egypt, which owes $1.9 million. But it's not alone - 177 countries have yet to pay up. 
Almost all the debt predates a November 2002 deal in which foreign countries said they would quickly pay off any new tickets in return for specific parking spots for each country. 
Since then, the city has collected $3 million. 
Bradford Billet, deputy commissioner at the city's Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol, called the pact a tremendous success. 
The results of this historic agreement are clear, he said. The numbers of tickets issued to the diplomatic and consular community have dropped significantly, [and] these tickets are being addressed as never before. 
But countries haven't been rushing to pay their old bills. 
South Korea, the home country of new United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, owes more than $17,000, according to the city Finance Department. 
Officials from South Korea disputed the amount, saying the country owes about $2,000. 
Scofflaw dignitaries for years have been a sore spot for New Yorkers, who accuse diplomats of flouting parking laws, clogging streets and blocking intersections - all without fear of huge fines. 
Ban even encouraged visiting heads of state and their staffs to take the subway during the next general session of the UN to ease the pressure on the city's streets. 
The secretary general, like his predecessor, encourages all the member states to comply with local law and deal with the host country, Ban's spokesman, Farhan Haq, said. 
The State Department has had the right to yank the plates of any car with three or more outstanding tickets since 2002. It was unclear whether the government has exercised that option, but the city Finance Department said the threat of removal has been a powerful tool in getting diplomats to pay up. 
The number of tickets issued against diplomats has decreased 94% since the agreement. 
The number of unpaid tickets has also fallen dramatically - from 153,356 before November 2002 to 1,465 tickets since then. 
As for the $18 million still owed the city's taxpayers, Billet was, well, diplomatic: It is our hope that counties with parking debt to the city decide to pay what they owe.