By Joe Anuta
A Forest Hills lawmaker racked up more than $2,000 in Washington, D.C., parking tickets over the last four years and only paid after he was contacted by a Capitol Hill news publication.
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) was already joking about the incident at the Congressional Corespondents’ dinner last Thursday, telling the crowd his speech would be brief because he was double-parked outside.
But Weiner was the worst offender in a study by Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper that  which investigated roughly $15,000 in outstanding parking tickets incurred by federal lawmakers.
The publication accessed a parking ticket database for the District of Columbia and found that Weiner sometimes got multiple tickets at the same time. For example, he not only parked in a taxi stand zone, but also did not have current tags on his car.
Weiner has criticized foreign diplomats in the past for piling up parking tickets in New York City.
But in an interview with the New York Post, Weiner said his case was different since his tickets have been paid.
After Roll Call contacted the congressman, his press secretary, Dave Arnold, released a statement.
“All of the congressman’s parking tickets have been paid. He is pleased to have helped decrease the D.C. budget deficit,” Arnold told Roll Call.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
