NYPD, Sheriff’s Office, and State Troopers Crackdown on Ghost Car Drivers

By Yehudit Garmaise 

Working together with great coordination this afternoon, the NYPD joined forces with the New York City Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol, and several other city and state agencies to launch the first of what will be monthly eight-hour crackdowns on the drivers of ghost cars at three river crossings that enter Manhattan: the RFK Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, and the Lincoln Tunnel.

“Ghost vehicles, ghost cars, ghost dirt bikes: they are not only a menace to our roadways, but we are finding that their drivers are participating in very violent and dangerous crimes,” Mayor Adams said. “These drivers leave the scenes of crimes. You don’t know who they are. They disappear in the night.

“They store various sets of plates in their vehicles, and they are changing them throughout the night,” added the mayor, who said ghost car drivers often buy their fraudulent plates online, or deface their plates themselves.

Working together with great coordination yesterday, the NYPD joined forces with the New York City Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol, and several other city and state agencies to launch the first of what will be monthly eight-hour crackdowns on the drivers of ghost cars at three river crossings that enter Manhattan: the RFK Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, and the Lincoln Tunnel.

By deploying law enforcement officers working in marked police cars, various-sized tow trucks, and automated license plate reader technology, city and state law enforcement “issued 282 summonses, made eight arrests, impounded 73 vehicles, and sent an important message to anyone who drives our streets or city,” said Mayor Adams. “No one is above the law. If you drive with illegal or defaced license plates, you will face the outcome.”

Nonexistent, fraudulent, or defaced plates appear on a wide range of types of vehicles, the mayor said. 

“We saw yellow cabs impounded, Range Rovers, old and new vehicles, high-end, luxury vehicles, such as Porsches and Bugattis.

“There are all sorts of people who think they can escape the law and it is not going to happen.

“Bad actors want to escape accountability for the serious crimes they commit in these ghost cars, such as shootings, robberies, and hit and runs.”

In 2023, New York state and city police arrested nearly 11,200 drivers and impounded their cars.

The NYPD also seized more than 21,200 additional vehicles and issued motorists more than 21,200 moving violation summonses.

“Every time we take one of these vehicles across the road, we are taking off a potential person who is going to commit a serious felony or violent act,” said Mayor Adams, who said that the crackdown on ghost cars and plates is helping his successful efforts to drive down car theft and other major crimes.