{"id":2643,"date":"2007-08-20T09:30:54","date_gmt":"2007-08-20T17:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2007\/08\/in_the_end_sucking_up_that_way_to_ken_livingstone_was_all_for_naught.html"},"modified":"2007-08-20T09:30:54","modified_gmt":"2007-08-20T17:30:54","slug":"in_the_end_suck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/archives\/2007\/08\/in_the_end_suck.html","title":{"rendered":"In The End, Sucking Up That Way To Ken Livingstone Was All For Naught"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you were wondering why the State Department concerns itself with the ins and outs of a domestic transportation bill, now you know<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Mayor Bloomberg promised that diplomats would pay up, just like everyone else, under his congestion-pricing plan — but it looks like he won’t be able to keep that promise.<\/p>\n

According to the fine print inside the deal that gives $354 million in federal transportation funds to support the anti-traffic scheme in the city, the State Department will be able to waive fees on foreign bigwigs whenever it wants.<\/p>\n

The State Department has already taken a stand against congestion pricing. U.S. officials are arguing in London, which now has congestion pricing in place, that assessing such fees against foreign governments violates international law.<\/p>\n

Aides to Bloomberg told The Post in April that the mayor will only waive fees for emergency vehicles, taxis, livery cabs and handicapped drivers.<\/p>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

The Committee to Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free, which opposes Mayor Bloomberg’s plan, said the last-minute clause was “infuriating.”<\/p>\n

“It is galling that an Iranian diplomat could pay nothing while a senior citizen from Bayside would be charged to go for cancer treatment at a Manhattan hospital,” said spokesman Josh Bienstock.<\/p>\n

The DOT said the potential loophole for foreign government workers was added at the request of the State Department.<\/p>\n

The clause says the State Department can force the city to waive fees for “vehicles owned or operated by any foreign government or international organization.”<\/p>\n

The State Department — currently locked in a bitter battle with the city of London over $3 million in unpaid congestion fees and fines American diplomats have racked up there — has argued that congestion pricing amounts to a tax. And under the Geneva Conventions, the agency maintains, foreign governments don’t pay taxes.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Backstory: Hizzoner The Cab Crusher<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you were wondering why the State Department concerns itself with the ins and outs of a domestic transportation bill, now you know: Mayor Bloomberg promised that diplomats would pay up, just like everyone else, under his congestion-pricing plan — but it looks like he won’t be able to keep that promise. According to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grrr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}