In a September 2014 news photo, police cars filled a Times Square intersection while New York was in the middle of United Nations week.[1][4] Nearby, in the city’s finance records, another international traffic jam was already years old: parking tickets written to vehicles with diplomatic plates, many of them still unpaid.

In 2014, New York City said foreign diplomatic vehicles had more than $16 million in unpaid parking tickets, with Egypt owing nearly $2 million, the largest amount reported. Most of the debt came from tickets issued before a 2002 crackdown sharply reduced the problem.

The Department of Finance put the outstanding total at more than $16 million in unpaid parking tickets issued to foreign diplomatic vehicles.[1][2] This was not a bill from a few careless drivers. The list covered more than 180 countries, a municipal roll call shaped by New York’s unusual role as host city to the United Nations.[1][3]

Egypt was first on the list. City figures reported in 2014 showed the country owing nearly $2 million in unpaid parking debt, with New York Magazine describing the amount as almost $2 million and other outlets reporting the same figure from city records and the Wall Street Journal.[1][2][4] Five other countries had balances above $500,000: Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, Morocco, and Pakistan.[1][2][3]

A Local Ticket, an International Plate

A New York parking ticket is usually a small local object, a paper summons tied to a curb, a hydrant, a loading zone, or a meter. On a diplomatic vehicle, the same paper entered a more awkward system. The ticket could be written, the debt could be recorded, and the city could still have trouble turning that record into payment.

By 2014, much of the money was old. The Associated Press reported that most of the debt came from tickets issued before 2002.[1] After that, New York changed its approach. During Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, the city began pressing cars to surrender diplomatic plates after parking-ticket disputes, and unpaid-ticket totals dropped sharply afterward.[4]

The backlog still left a strange ledger behind. New York Magazine, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported that the ten largest offenders together owed more than $7 million, almost half of the citywide total.[4] That group included Bulgaria, Angola, Sudan, Senegal, Pakistan, Morocco, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Egypt.[4]

The Answers Were Brief

Reporters who asked foreign missions about the debts did not get much of a public accounting. A spokesman for Egypt’s U.N. mission said he did not have details about the tickets.[1][4] Officials for Indonesia, Morocco, and Pakistan declined to comment.[1][2] Brazil’s spokesman said the country had asked the city for more information, and a message left at Nigeria’s U.N. mission was not returned.[1][2]

The figure was funny in the way only a city parking story can be funny, until the scale came into focus. A summons was written. A diplomatic car moved on. The paper trail stayed in a database, year after year, until New York was left with a $16 million reminder that even global diplomacy sometimes leaves something tucked under the windshield wiper.

Sources

  1. Christian Science Monitor, “Diplomats owe $16 million in unpaid NYC parking tickets. Who owes most?”
  2. NBC New York, “Diplomats Owe NYC $16M in Unpaid Parking Tickets”
  3. ABC7 New York, “Diplomats rack up $16 million in unpaid New York City parking tickets”
  4. New York Magazine, “Foreign Diplomats Owe New York City $16 Million in Unpaid Parking Tickets”