NEW YORK >> New York government are cracking down on what they name “ghost cars,” or vehicles the usage of altered or cast license plates to steer clear of paying tolls and tickets.
A multiagency effort to catch them on Monday led to 73 vehicles impounded, 282 summonses issued and 8 arrests, Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and police officers introduced these days.
Officials mentioned it used to be the primary effort by way of a brand new state and town process drive that will probably be implementing license plate necessities.
Monday’s operation concerned some 150 officials the usage of license plate reader generation, visible inspections and different how you can spot fake plates alongside 3 river crossings getting into Manhattan: the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge linking 3 New York City boroughs, and the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel, which attach with New Jersey.
“Today the Ghostbusters have arrived,” Hochul, a Democrat, mentioned at a news convention on the RFK Bridge. “We’re going after the ghost vehicles. The gig is up.”
Toll dodging prices the area’s transit gadget an estimated $50 million yearly that may be invested into modernizing subways and public buses, mentioned Janno Lieber, CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
“That’s your money they’re taking,” he mentioned. “That’s tax money.”
Police have observed a transparent connection between the unlawful vehicles and violent crime, Adams mentioned. Vehicles bearing fraudulent or changed license plates — or no tags in any respect — are ceaselessly unregistered, uninsured or stolen, he mentioned. That makes it difficult to trace down vehicles and their homeowners after they’re fascinated with hit-and-runs, robberies, shootings and different crimes.
Some criminals even elevate more than one units of plates and turn them out to steer clear of detection, in step with the mayor.
“These ‘ghost vehicles’ are a menace to our roadways,” Adams mentioned. “We don’t know who they are. They disappear into the night.”
To be certain that, forging or changing license plates isn’t new, mentioned New York Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban.
But town noticed an inflow of them right through the pandemic, with other folks buying fake plates on-line that seem as although they had been issued by way of out-of-state dealerships.
Caban mentioned violators additionally use spray paint, tape and different fabrics to difficult to understand or adjust license plate numbers and letters. Still others acquire gadgets that may be activated by way of a motive force to hide the plate simply as their car enters a toll zone, rendering the plate unreadable by way of fare gadget generation.