'Ghost Cars' With Bogus Plates Face New NYC Crackdown

NEW YORK CITY — A new crackdown aims to exorcise New York City of "ghost cars."

Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled the crackdown on cars with forged, altered or otherwise bogus plates with the announcement Tuesday that it had already begun the day before — and landed 73 cars in the impound, led to 282 summonses and netted eight arrests.

Adams said so-called "ghost" vehicles of all stripes, beyond being toll cheats, can be used to commit crimes because they're untraceable.

"This initiative is a proactive way of catching them before they do something dangerous," he said.

The crackdown's first day unfolded Monday with NYPD, city sheriffs, MTA bridge and tunnel officers, state police and Port Authority cops performing stops on the RFK Bridge, the George Washington Bridge and Lincoln Tunnel.

The city-state taskforce aims to remove vehicles with fake or modified plates, or no tags, from city streets, officials said.

Beyond the crime fears outlined by Adams, officials with the MTA have said that toll beaters cost the transit agency an estimated $50 million a year.