Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
DOT

CM Bottcher: City Must Publicly Report on Plate-Covering Perps

Council Member Erik Bottcher wants speed cameras to work better. Warning: This is a Photoshopped image!

Big Brother is watching ... but not squealing.

A Manhattan Council member wants to require the Department of Transportation to issue monthly reports detailing how many times a city speed or red-light camera was foiled because a driver had defaced or covered his or her plate.

Council Member Erik Bottcher's bill, which is expected to be submitted on Thursday, aims to build on existing, but scattershot, reporting that has attempted to pin down just how many cheaters are on the roads.

“Finally getting 24/7 speed cameras was an incredible win for our city, but we know that drivers are illegally concealing, obscuring, and defacing their license plates to continue to speed with impunity," Bottcher told Streetsblog. "What we don’t know is how many drivers are doing it, how many lives they’re endangering, and how much money they’re stealing. This is information that should be publicly available and I’m proud that my legislation will do just that.”

We sort of know how many drivers are doing it. Earlier this year, The City published a bombshell report that revealed that covered-up plates allowed drivers to evade camera tickets 1.5 million times between March 2020 and January 2022. The problem, the outlet revealed, has gotten decidedly worse as the city has ramped up its speed camera effort. Between January 2016 and mid-2019, roughly 1 percent of all drivers could not be identified from their plate, either because they had no plate or had covered or defaced it.

That number rose to about 4 percent in mid-2020, when the DOT expanded its speed cameras to more than 700 school zones. And the percentage of drivers with unreadable plates rose to 4.75 percent during the heart of the pandemic, when speeding increased as well.

The City obtained the information only through a Freedom of Information Law request, an onerous process that Bottcher aims to obviate by requiring the DOT to post a report of covered or unreadable plates on its website each month and submit those reports to the mayor and the Speaker of the Council as a single report by Jan. 31 of each year, he said.

"We in government rely on the people of New York City and their passion, expertise, and knowledge to help us both craft policies and understand whether those policies are working," Bottcher said. "Making this information easily and publicly available to both the City Council and all New Yorkers is an important piece of that."

Department of Transportation spokesman Vin Barone said, "We look forward to reviewing the legislation."

Transportation Alternatives is already certain it supports it.

“Our streets are more dangerous when drivers flout the law to escape accountability," said Elizabeth Adams, the group's senior director of Advocacy and Organizing. "Council Member Bottcher's bill will allow the city to see the scale of this illegal practice and help ensure that our automated enforcement programs are as strong as they can be."

And the keeper of the Placard Abuse account on Twitter reminded, "Open public data is always important for accountability."

The bill "would help the public understand the scale of the problem and would make it more likely that worsening trends will get noticed. The more people understanding just how much the culture of corruption is exposing us to avoidable dangers, the more seriously they will push their elected officials to fix it."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

New Bill Would Block Apps From Deactivating Workers Without Cause

A Brooklyn Council member wants delivery app companies to be more human and less robot.

July 18, 2025

Friday Video: Is Berlin a Great Biking City?

Have recent moves by anti-bike, pro-car legislators ruined the experience in the capital of a unified Germany? Sort of!

July 18, 2025

Eyes on the Street: Meeker Avenue Bike Lane Is a Failure

The Department of Transportation still hasn't finished a critical bike lane under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that the agency has been stalling for over four years even after identifying the strip's danger and lack of proper signals.

July 18, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Cuomo’s Road Rage Edition

Why does Andrew Cuomo drive so recklessly? Plus other news.

July 18, 2025

Fixing Third Ave. Was Once ‘Top of List’ For Eric Adams — But as Mayor He Backed Off

Mayor Adams has delayed a redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue despite once saying safety fixes there should be "at the top of our list."

July 17, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Jerry Nadler Edition

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler faced off with Sean Duffy on Capitol Hill. Plus more news.

July 17, 2025
See all posts