New York DMV unveils Long Island regional license plate 

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles unveiled a new Long Island-specific license plate and no, it's not an image of Billy Joel, a bacon, egg and cheese bagel or bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Long Island Expressway.

The image chosen by the DMV to represent Long Island, and to appear in the background of the new custom plates, is the iconic Montauk Point Lighthouse.

“Every region of our state has something unique and interesting about it, and we are happy to celebrate that uniqueness by making these new license plates available for New York drivers,” DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder, who also serves as chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, said in a statement. “These also allow drivers to put their own unique touch on their vehicles and show pride for the place they live.”

The plates were officially unveiled Tuesday at the Bethpage DMV district office.

The lighthouse image was one of several designs presented to the DMV's Custom Plates Development Committee, a small internal group, a department spokesman said Monday.

The Long Island plate joins six other areas across the state already with their own plates, including Queens and New York City as a whole, while nine others, predominantly upstate, will be unveiled later this month, officials said. 

In total, there are more than 200 custom license plates available from the DMV, representing branches of the military and U.S. veterans, various professions, nonprofit causes, sports teams and fraternal and recreational organizations.

A Long Island custom plate will initially cost $60, or $91.25 to personalize it, and an additional $31.25 for an annual renewal. The annual renewal for a personalized plate will run $62.50. The renewal fees are in addition to the standard vehicle's registration renewal fee.

Revenue from some of the custom plates will be used to support philanthropic causes including the World Trade Center Memorial Scholarship Fund, Cure Childhood Cancer Research Fund, Environmental Protection Fund and the Life Pass It On Trust Fund.

The plates can be ordered online, by mail or by calling the Custom Plates office at 518-402-4838. 

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.