A VETERAN lobbyist trying to block Mayor Bloomberg‘s congestion-pricing plan has been caught parked illegally near City Hall – with a placard in his windshield from the firefighters’ union.
If that’s not bad enough, the person who snapped a photo of Richard Lipsky’s 2007 Lexus on Nov. 29 at Duane and Church streets posted it online at uncivilservants.org, a Web site run by Transportation Alternatives, a leading proponent of congestion pricing.
TA officials said they traced the vehicle’s plate to Lipsky and were happy to see he got a ticket for parking in a crosswalk despite the placard.
“This is the height of hypocrisy,” charged TA Communications Director Wiley Norvell.
Lipsky has bashed the nonprofit advocacy group on his blog, questioning where it was getting money to promote Bloomberg’s $8-a-day motoring fee to enter Manhattan.
“We’re wondering where this Astroturf outfit is getting all of the cash from. A bunch of bicycle-riding oddballs are suddenly flush with ad dollars and no one questions the money source?” Lipsky wrote.
“Try our 6,000 members,” responded Norvell.
Lipsky wouldn’t say where he got a parking placard issued by the Uniformed Firefighters Association, which is supposed to be used only by firefighters near firehouses. It says “Active Firefighter” in bold letters.
A source pointed out that he represented the union about a dozen years ago.
“I’m not going to give credence to whatever they said they found,” Lipsky said of Transportation Alternatives.
“Just in the last few weeks, I moved into the city from Rockland County, and I’m using mass transit to get to work. And I’m enjoying the difference.”
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State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), a frequent critic of the NYPD, offered some unexpected testimony recently on behalf of the police union, which is in a contract fight with the Bloomberg administration.
Adams told an arbitration panel that everyone around the city believes cops deserve a hefty raise – even the victims of police abuse.
“The people that came to the table [during a hearing on police misconduct] and complained about being abused said we need to pay our cops more,” Adams told The Post.
He argued that low pay had attracted numerous unqualified candidates for all the uniformed services.
“We’re getting a higher influx of guys selling drugs, guys shaking down drug dealers, guys in jails and [female cops] marrying creeps that are not suitable,” Adams charged.
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association declined comment.