NYPD Claims It’s Impossible To Remove All Ghost Cars From Streets
On Monday, NYPD officials expressed that the city’s tow pounds do not have sufficient capacity to remove all cars with illegal or obscured license plates from the streets.
During a City Council hearing, police officials reported that they have towed over 8,600 “ghost cars” since the beginning of 2022. However, Deputy Chief Michael Pilecki from the NYPD Transportation division stated that towing more cars with illegal plates would be challenging due to the closure of the NYPD’s Manhattan tow pound on the West Side in 2021.
Pilecki explained that the loss of the Manhattan tow pound, the largest in the city, resulted in the reduction of several hundred parking spots. The tow pound previously processed nearly 200 cars daily.
In 2020, former Governor Andrew Cuomo threatened the city with fines of at least $12 million if they failed to relocate the tow pound before December 31 of that year. Consequently, the city now has only three tow pounds in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, each with a capacity of approximately 200 cars.
Despite the limitations, Pilecki emphasized that the NYPD is actively targeting drivers with illegal plates, even if towing their vehicles off the road is not always possible. NYPD data revealed that over 130,000 summonses have been issued for illegal or defaced license plates, and more than 1,700 individuals have been arrested for driving “ghost cars.”
Pilecki explained that vehicles displaying fraudulent plates evade various forms of street-level enforcement, such as tolls, speed and red light cameras, and parking enforcement, effectively becoming undetectable within the system.
NYPD officials mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in temporary paper license plates nationwide as DMVs closed. However, Pilecki noted that the NYPD only possesses information on temporary license plates from 10 states, making it challenging to determine the authenticity of a paper license plate.
The City Council hearing followed an April investigation by Streetsblog, which uncovered a black market operated by car dealerships providing temporary license plates to New York City drivers. According to the investigation, these fake plates have cost the city millions of dollars in uncollected tickets and tolls.
City Council lawmakers are pushing for legislation to address the issue of illegal plates. Proposed bills include imposing fines of up to $500 on drivers caught using fake or expired license plates and establishing penalties for individuals involved in distributing counterfeit plates.
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