(The following story by Ben Silverman appeared on the New York Post website on April 6.)
NEW YORK — A billing dispute between Verizon Communications and Amtrak is threatening to derail the communications system at the Republican National Convention in New York this summer, according to an internal Verizon e-mail obtained by The Post.
In an apparent gaffe, an e-mail from one Verizon employee to another explaining the situation was mistakenly sent out to more than 100 Capitol Hill staffers last Friday.
The company is handling local, long-distance and data services for the convention and the media center at the Farley Post Office Building.
“[Verizon employees] have been working to help business folks gain access to Amtrak space beneath [Madison Square Garden] to begin wiring for [the] convention,” the e-mail reads.
“There is a separate billing dispute between [Verizon] and Amtrak. Because of this, Amtrak will not allow us access to their tunnels. Business unit is nervous that we will run out of time.”
According to the e-mail, which caused some gasps among staffers on The Hill, New York Congressman John Sweeney had a “personal conversation” with David Gunn, president of Amtrak.
Sweeney serves on the House Appropriations Committee and sits on the Transportation and Treasury Subcommittee, which oversees Amtrak’s federal funding.
“We’ve always been supportive of Amtrak,” Demetrious Karoutsos, a Sweeney spokesperson said.
“Our number one concern is to make sure the convention goes off smoothly. Congressman Sweeney, with that in mind, wanted to see if there’s anything we can do to mediate the situation. Obviously, right now it’s a dispute between two parties who feel they have legitimate concerns.”
Amtrak did not return calls seeking comment.
Details of the actual billing dispute were not laid out in the e-mail, but the note indicates that Gunn is “holding fast that [Verizon] must pay its bills” and Verizon’s lawyers are “negotiating [a] separate billing issue, and access to MSG tunnels should not be a part of this discussion.”
Verizon declined comment.