Nassau joins New York 'ghost vehicle' task force, while Suffolk considers move

Nassau County police have begun seizing and ticketing "ghost vehicles" since recently joining New York’s joint agency task force targeting license plate scammers, but Suffolk County’s top cop remains uncertain about whether that department will join.

Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced that Nassau police had become part of the multiagency task force created a year earlier to combat "ghost cars" — those using obstructed, altered, hidden or phony license plates to avoid camera enforcement, including at tolled crossings and red lights.

Toll evasion costs the Metropolitan Transportation Authority about $50 million in lost revenue annually and state officials said the problem presents an existential threat to faith in the tolling system. That concern has been heightened with the implementation of congestion pricing, which since January has charged drivers for entering 60th Street and below in Manhattan.

Despite past crackdown efforts, the MTA averaged about 400,000 missed toll transactions a month through April last year — about 8% higher than the same period in 2023, according to agency statistics obtained by Newsday. The MTA did not provide updated figures on unpaid tolls, but MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Cathy Sheridan said in January that the agency collects 96% of all tolls.

Police have said scammers use a range of methods to hide their license plates, from scratching paint off them to high-tech gadgets that make them disappear from view at the press of a button.

The task force, created in March 2024, already included multiple law enforcement agencies, including the NYPD, MTA Police Department, New York State Police, Port Authority Police and the New York City Sheriff's Office. Since its inception, the task force has held more than 70 operations, often near tolled MTA crossings. The stings have resulted in more than 900 arrests, 40,000 summonses, and more than 4,000 vehicles impounded, officials said.

The recent addition of police departments in Nassau and Westchester counties allow for a more "regional approach" to the problem, Hochul’s office said in a statement. Allison C de Cerreño, chief operating officer for MTA Bridges and Tunnels, said in an interview the task force is "looking for other counties that are interested, as well."

Nassau Executive Bruce Blakeman said the invitation from the NYPD to join the task force followed his administration’s efforts to address incidents of drivers "committing serious traffic violations and ... fleeing to neighboring jurisdictions," whether that was Nassau drivers crossing into Queens, or vice versa.

"They asked us to join, and we were very enthusiastic, because we thought that a joint enforcement effort was something that would be very, very beneficial to the safety of the residents of the whole region," Blakeman said in an April 3 interview.

The task force coordinates on "enhanced enforcement days," with various agencies deploying to different locations to catch ghost vehicles, Blakeman said. Nassau conducted its first operation as part of the task force on March 20, with cops stopping 49 cars with covered plates, 51 with improper plates, and 89 with "no plates at all," the county executive said.

Nassau police made five arrests and impounded 12 vehicles, according to Blakeman, who declined to give the location of the operation, but said the task force is focusing its Long Island efforts on the Queens-Nassau County border. "NYPD would be on their side of the border and we would be on our side of the border," Blakeman said.

Farther east, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina told Newsday that his department is "certainly open to" conversations about joining the task force. But, Catalina also pointed out that his county doesn’t have the same financial incentive to crack down on ghost vehicles as other jurisdictions.

"I think the NYPD is particularly interested because it’s a revenue source. We don’t have the tolls out here that New York City does. We don’t even have a red light camera anymore," Catalina said in an interview. "We’re interested in the way it would affect Suffolk County. And that would be if these cars are committing crimes in Suffolk County, and the license plates are preventing us from solving those crimes."

After being in place for 14 years, Suffolk's red light camera expired in December. However, the county still has a school bus camera program that collected about $45 million in ticket revenue in 2022 and 2023, according to annual reports.

In 2023, when Suffolk still had a red light camera program, police ticketed more than 5,200 vehicles for fake, obscured or covered plates. County officials did not provide figures for 2024.

Bayport resident Steve Birkeland, who reached out to Newsday in November with feedback about ghost vehicle enforcement efforts, said he regularly sees cars with obstructed, bent or otherwise defaced plates in Suffolk. He questioned why the county wouldn’t take part in a regional effort to crack down on ghost vehicles, even if its involvement wouldn’t "have as much impact as the places closer to the city."

"I don’t see why they can’t join," Birkeland, 76, said in an interview. 

He acknowledged that some illegible plates he’s seen in Suffolk may be the result of regular wear and tear. "If that’s what it is, let them go. But if they discover something, grab these people and punish them for what they’re costing the state, county and of the other governments."

David Mack, Nassau’s representative on the MTA Board, applauded his county for joining the task force, and said he would encourage others to do the same. Mack noted that it's not only government agencies getting ripped off by ghost vehicles, as they can be used to dodge insurance liability in crashes involving other drivers or pedestrians

"Forget the MTA. What about the safety of those that are on the streets?" said Mack, who holds an honorary position as first assistant commissioner for the Nassau Police Department.

But Jay Beeber, executive director of policy at the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based driver advocacy group, questioned dedicating more government resources to prop up "revenue schemes" like red light cameras and New York’s congestion pricing program.

"When that happens, people tend to push back against them," Beeber said. "I’m not saying this is the right way to do it, but the real answer here is for the government to take a long, hard look and see how they’re extracting money from the hardworking folks in the New York area."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.