New Ghost Car Crackdown Now Grabbing Parked Cars from NYC Streets
Fifteen NYPD officers have been assigned to work with the Department of Sanitation to remove the so-called ghost cars that are parked on city streets. The earlier crackdown on cars with missing or altered license plates focused on grabbing cars that were in motion on bridges and streets.
| 23 Sep 2024 | 10:43
A new joint NYPD/Sanitation Dept task force is now charged with removing so-called ghost cars that are parked on city streets. In the past, the crackdown focused on spotting moving vehicles in traffic on city bridges. In the new push, Fifteen NYPD officers will be assigned to a new interagency task force. (
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In the latest crackdown on ghost cars–vehicles with altered or missing license plates–the city now says it will begin grabbing parked cars and has permanently assigned 15 NYPD officers to work with the Department of Sanitation to remove the plateless cars from city street.
The program started on September 10th, and over the first five nights of operations removed 295 ghost cars, freeing up space for New Yorkers who follow safety and regulatory requirements.
The new interagency task force was unveiled by Mayor Eric Adams at a Sept. 18 press conference with interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon, and Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
This will make it easier for New Yorkers to find parking spaces on the street. The new task force is set up to identify, target, and tow illegal ghost cars that are parked on the streets of New York City.
The Adams administration has been taken to task for not addressing the problem of far too many drivers to avoid accountability in breaking vehicle operation laws.
“Far too often, ghost cars are not only used to evade toll readers, but are also being used in more serious crimes, including shootings, robberies, and hit-and-runs,” said Adams.
Why now? The plateless cars are virtually untraceable by traffic cameras and toll readers because of their forged or altered license plates—from illegally taking parking spaces to any sort of illicit vehicular operation and there is little risk of actually getting caught, no matter what or how many infractions are accumulated.
Last year, over 50,000 complaints were registered about plateless cars parked illegally, with a minimal tow rate from the Department of Sanitation, who has responsibility in such masters, The uptick in these plateless cars complaints, much like subway and bus fare evasion, follows a trend of drivers who seek to evade accountability. Congestion pricing’s arrival sometime soon will only accentuate the problem.
Added DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “ Ghost car drivers have been caught with firearms, caught leaving the scene of a crash, and more. Now, we have a strategy to get them where they’re parked, every hour of every day
Current city and state enforcement efforts against ghost cars focus on enforcing against these automobiles while in motion, on the streets, or at toll plazas. The new enforcement group will work during other times, when these unregistered, uninsured, or stolen vehicles are in street parking spaces. After seizure by the task force, vehicles will be held at NYPD lots to be processed and claimed, auctioned, or destroyed after all investigatory work is complete.
This urban mobilization parallels the March initiative of the joint city-state ghost car task force of the NYPD, the New York City Sheriff’s Office, MTA Bridge and Tunnel officers, the New York State Police, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department. That task force completed its 41st operation and has, since March, made 490 arrests, issued 20,640 summonses, and seized 2,303 vehicles whose owners owed a total of over $21 million in unpaid tolls, taxes, fees, and more.
“Far too often, ghost cars are not only used to evade toll readers, but are also being used in more serious crimes, including shootings, robberies, and hit-and-runs.” Mayor Eric Adams.