NYC Mayor Eric Adams cracks down on phony license plates

2022-07-29 22:54:01 By : Mr. Peter Lee

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Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced the second Big Apple crackdown on paper license plates and so-called “ghost cars” in as many years, charging that phony tags are used by scofflaws who commit other crimes.

“When you see people using these paper plates, many times they are doing something illegal. There’s a correlation between the illegal [operation] of a vehicle and not only possession of a gun, possession of narcotics, possession of a suspended license,” Adams told reporters in Queens.

Using bogus paper plates — a tactic often employed to try to avoid tolls or being tracked down — is a misdemeanor, and those who do so risk being slapped with a fine of between $65 and $200 and being towed, a police official said.

Speaking Tuesday afternoon at the Springfield Gardens Auto Pound, NYPD Transportation Chief Kim Royster said arrests involving temporary paper plates rose to 3,568 — a 300% increase compared to the 893 arrests in 2016. A quarter of the 5,500 ghost vehicles towed by the NYPD last year and more than 30% of the 1,646 such cars were never claimed, according to Royster, who cited NYPD data.

“We heard of ghost guns. Now we are talking about ghost vehicles. Ghost guns can’t be traced and ghost vehicles can’t be traced,” explained Adams, a former transit cop. “We know that if we don’t get them off the streets, just like ghost guns, they become a weapon of death for innocent New Yorkers. So we’re fighting … the increase in ghost cars that can’t be traced.” 

The mayor vowed that cops are being directed “not to drive by these vehicles but to stop them, conduct an investigation, determine if a crime has taken place and take action.

He declared, “No more ignoring these vehicles on our road.” 

The newly touted efforts — carried out by the police department and city sheriffs — come after local law enforcement have launched similar ones of late.

In June 2021, the NYPD unveiled a clampdown on drivers who use fraudulent license plates, days after MTA cops caught three drivers in a half hour who made unsuccessful attempts to evade the toll on the RFK Bridge by using fake tags.

In August, sheriffs seized dozens of vehicles with bogus paper ones. Sheriff deputies in Queens impounded more than 50 cars the next month.

Also last year, the “Used Car King of New York” that cops suspected was behind the uptick in phony license plates was busted in Austin, Texas.

Royster noted that officials from the department have in recent months held meetings with the MTA, DOT, sheriff’s office, among other agencies on the undertaking.

“Today, we’re putting scofflaws on notice,” she said. “If you dare to obscure your real license plate or if you affix an altered or forged temporary plate to your vehicle, we are out there right now in real time looking for your car and looking for you.” 

Royster also stressed that the attempt to reduce the number of rule-breakers on the road is not a fleeting initiative that is only in effect for the month or the remainder of the summer.

“This is an active, ongoing part of the daily and nightly work of every NYPD police officer and investigator,” she said.  

“Just like when we investigate shootings and violent crimes, this effort is intelligence driven, and we use precision policing to focus on specific streets where we know vehicles with fraudulent plates or obscured plates are parked.”

Big Apple Sheriff Anthony Miranda urged New Yorkers to report offenders. 

“We want to make sure that we not only do the enforcement on the people who are driving these cars, but we’re asking anybody else who knows of anyone who is illegally selling these plates and taking advantage of our community to please contact the sheriff’s office,” he told reporters.