Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Today's Headlines

Wednesday’s Headlines: Please Clap Edition

Law enforcement impounded "nearly 1,500" vehicles with illegal or covered license plates since March. Plus more news.

Law enforcement has impounded "nearly 1,500" vehicles with illegal or covered license plates since Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams's big crackdown announcement earlier in March. Transit, police and DMV bigs celebrated that achievement at a big press conference on Tuesday — please clap.

Toll evasion costs the MTA an estimated $50 million per year, according to officials. It comes in many forms: There's the illegal temporary tags exposed by Streetsblog reporter Jesse Coburn's Polk Award-winning 2023 investigation. There's the covered and obscured plates exposed by Streetsblog Editor-in-Chief Gersh Kuntzman's viral "Criminal Mischief" crusade. There's also plenty of drivers skirting license plate rules in other creative ways: fake plates, no plates, expired plates — the list goes on.

The record-setting enforcement by MTA, NYPD and the Port Authority — which includes 12,007 summonses and 339 arrests — has not put a stop to the problem, however. As NYPD Transportation Chief Philip Rivera noted at Tuesday's announcement, the drunk driver who killed three people in a Manhattan park on Fourth of July had a "ghost plate" and actual New Jersey plates hiding behind his windshields.

A small victory: Tuesday's event was also attended by state DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder, who as recently as last year seemed to dismiss covered and fake tags as even a problem. Schroeder's response to a question about the issue last February was, "If that's something that's happening, please let me know."

On Tuesday, Schroeder said: "We have some New Yorkers who conceal license plates, they avoid paying tolls... Law enforcement is holding them responsible, holding them accountable."

In other news:

  • So long "courtesy, professionalism, respect," hello "fighting crime, protecting the public." (Gothamist)
  • Third Ave. Bridge, Amtrak woes show how New York's record-high heat will make commutes worse. (Gothamist)
  • Nolan Hicks digs into the issues plaguing Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. (Curbed)
  • A long-defunct rail line in Staten Island may be ready for a big return. (SI Advance)
  • Queens TLC appointee calls congestion pricing "the wrong idea at the wrong time." (Daily News)
  • amNY: Feds "blindsided" by Hochul's congestion pricing reversal. (Streetsblog also covered it.)
  • Hochul's congestion pricing theatrics earn her negative headlines back home. (WKBW via YouTube)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Friday Video: Meet the Subway’s Straphanger-Free Trains

We've all seen them. Now, thanks to YouTube's "Half as Interesting," we can tell you the purpose of each one.

October 3, 2025

The MTA Is Headed To The Lab To Design The Ridgewood Busway

A filthy private road underneath the elevated M tracks could become a gleaming bus-first corridor.

October 3, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Good News Edition

The Department of Transportation reports that traffic deaths are way down through the first three quarters of 2025. Plus other news.

October 3, 2025

‘Bean-Counting Street Safety’: Advocates Blast Gale Brewer’s Daylighting Flip-Flop

The Upper West Side pol's inconsistent safety record is getting a second look from activists who once supported her.

October 2, 2025

There’s Good Science Behind the Human Craving for Livable Streets

It's time to understand the science of pedestrian-friendly cities. Or, why streets should be designed like gardens.

October 2, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Mourning Becomes Enforcement Edition

Why were cops ticketing cyclists at the very intersection where a bike rider was killed by a driver on Saturday? Plus other news.

October 2, 2025
See all posts