By Josephine Stratman
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A new city task force cracking down on “ghost cars” — vehicles with obscured plates, no plates at all or no registration that scofflaws use to avoid tolls or commit crimes — is hitting the streets, Mayor Adams announced Wednesday.
The 90-day pilot program is one of several attempts in recent years to tamp down on the problem. This initiative, a team-up between the NYPD and the Department of Sanitation, has seized 295 cars since starting Tuesday, Adams announced.
“These cars are a pain in the ass,” Adams said. “They want to do whatever they want to do, and not only do they address the issues of not paying tolls, but they also are very much part of the criminal element that we’re witnessing in this city.”
The team’s efforts will be concentrated in Brownsville, East New York , Mott Haven, Melrose and Hunts Point, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks said. Fifteen NYPD officers will work with DSNY crews to go after the often uninsured or even stolen cars.
“They’ve been used to inflict not only runs, but very serious crimes in our city, shootings, robberies and other dangerous incidents that we have,” Banks said. “So we’re not going to stand by this.”
In March, Adams, Gov. Hochul and other city and state authorities announced a separate crackdown also focused on unlicensed drivers but it targeted those on the move with a license plate reader at bridge crossings with authorities ready to swoop in and arrest.
This program consists of “tagging and towing” with officers running plates on their phones.
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