New York - Russian mobster Roman Abramovich and Persian royal wannabe Reza Pahlavi are among dozens of foreign VIPs ousted from their respective armor plated SUVs this week and made to walk in a NYPD crackdown on unlicensed taxi drivers.
Adding insult to injury the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission has impounded their lead-lined million dollar runabouts in a dingy downtown City car pound charging $1,000 per day in 'quarantine' fleas. Uh, fees.
The seizure of his Bentley Mulsanne reportedly left Abramovich stranded outside the Apple Store on Fifth Monday morning along with a mystery young lady - who is not his wife nor current ho - in a certain state of undress.
Pahlavi meanwhile was spotted by eagle-eyed Jonine on East 61st Street wearing a camouflage Dishdasha and thumbing a Yellow Cab lift, his six bodyguards foaming at the mouth as cops seized the Persian's customised Zil Continental.
Must be something very interesting stashed inside the trunk, maybe.
Also forced to heave their enormous lardarses onto the sweltering Manhattan streets this week were some princelet sons of Qatar's Sheikh Hamad, corralled into having to walk along with the hot polloi after NYC inspectors impounded their crappy gold-plated Hummer, he he.
Hong Kong squillionaire Silas Chou was still without a car this week after his personal 'chauffeur' - ie unlicensed driver and suspected illegal immigrant - was busted by the commission last Friday.
Eat yer heart out, NYPD.