A joint crackdown by New York City and state police on ghost cars with untraceable license plates netted 73 vehicles and eight arrests this week.
Ghost cars have forged or altered license plates and can’t be picked up by traffic cameras or toll readers.
“Toll-dodging drivers cost the MTA an estimated $50 million every year. … That’s the public’s money they’re taking. And we can’t stand for it,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber said in a release from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
On Monday, state and local law enforcement established three checkpoints at entryways into Manhattan: the Lincoln Tunnel, George Washington Bridge and Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. In addition to the seizures and arrests, the joint task force issued 282 summonses.
“Today the Ghostbusters have arrived. We’re going after the ghost vehicles. The gig is up,” Ms. Hochul said at a news conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, according to The Associated Press.
The use of altered plates and counterfeit paper license plates grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some drivers used the plates to try and get away with more serious and violent crimes, such as hit-and-runs, armed robberies and shootings.
In 2022 and 2023, the New York City Police Department and the New York City Sheriff’s Office, which enforces civil law, arrested nearly 11,200 drivers and impounded their cars, took an additional 12,900 cars and issued 21,200 court summonses for moving violations, per the release.
The task force will be doing eight-hour enforcement operations at various points around New York City once a month.
“No one is above the law. These cars might not have license plates, but we’ve got their number, and we’re going after anyone who tries to make their car untraceable,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said in the release.