The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Friday that local authorities confiscated more than 100 vehicles in August with “ghost plates,” which are unregistered license plates that drivers use to evade tolls.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels, NYPD, and other law enforcement agencies seized the vehicles and issued more than 1,500 tickets to toll evaders at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, two major thoroughfares in NYC, during three separate operations last month.
The operations were conducted at the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge on Aug. 19, and at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Aug. 24 and 30.
“Our Bridge and Tunnel Officers have worked with our regional partners to make it abundantly clear that the use of ghost plates to avoid paying tolls will not be tolerated,” Catherine Sheridan, MTA Bridges and Tunnels president, said. “Don’t risk losing your car by breaking the law. Pay your tolls.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul said in July that ghost plates cost the state “millions” in lost dollars.
“Ghost plates and toll evasion cost our state millions each year and impede our efforts to build a mass transit system that benefits everyone,” she said. “Our heightened enforcement efforts are cracking down on the brazen lawlessness that has gone unchecked for too long, and our message is simple: enough is enough.”
Cops also confiscated vehicles for a number of other violations in the latest crackdown, including unpaid tolls, unregistered vehicles and suspended licenses.
Targeting drivers with ghost plates also helps to combat major crime, authorities say.
On June 24, a driver who obscured part of his license plate was pulled over at the RFK Bridge. As MTA Bridge and Tunnel officers conducted their operation, it was later revealed the driver had a suspended license, was wanted for several crimes, and officers found a large quantity of narcotics and a loaded firearm in the vehicle.
Meanwhile, as of Sept. 1, a new state law went into effect banning the sale of so-called ghost plates and license plate covers. These items have found their way onto sites like Craigslist, Facebook Market Place and TikTok.
Since the inception of open-road tolling — also known as cashless tolling — the MTA has stopped more than 11,000 vehicles for “persistent” non-payment of tolls, the agency said.