MTA task force adds to tally of toll evaders, 'ghost plate' drivers
Impounded vehicles last month outside the MTA building along the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx, part of an effort to find toll evaders and "ghost plate" drivers at several bridges and tunnels that has continued into August. Credit: Newsday / James Carbone
MTA and NYPD officers arrested 43 people and issued more than 1,800 tickets to toll evaders and drivers with hidden "ghost plates" during three operations over the past two weeks, officials said Thursday.
Authorities seized 166 vehicles from drivers who owed more than $1.3 million combined in unpaid tolls. MTA Bridges and Tunnels officers and the NYPD caught toll evaders between Aug. 4 and Sunday.
Operations were positioned on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the RFK Bridge, the Cross Bay Bridge, the Marine Parkway Bridge between the Rockaways and Brooklyn, the Third Avenue and Willis Avenue bridges in the Bronx, and the Henry Hudson, University Heights, Broadway and Washington bridges.
Authorities identified vehicles by using DMV-suspended registrations, roadside stops or checkpoints, and data intelligence to determine repeat toll offenders, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
"The message could not be any clearer: Anyone who thinks they are above the law or doesn’t pay their tolls will find out the hard way," MTA Bridges and Tunnels president Catherine Sheridan said in a statement.
"Don't take the risk," Sheridan added. "Pay your tolls and avoid having your car taken away from you."
The crackdown is part of a yearlong multiagency operation to collect owed tolls and catch drivers who obscure or alter their license plates.
The MTA, the NYPD and other agencies, including Port Authority police, New York State Police and the state Department of Motor Vehicles are part of the task force.
During 34 operations so far this year, authorities have impounded nearly 2,000 vehicles, made a total of 438 arrests and issued nearly 17,000 tickets. Those offenders were responsible for nearly $14 million in unpaid tolls and judgments, according to the MTA.
"Ghost plates and toll evasion cost our state millions each year and impede our efforts to build a mass transit system that benefits everyone," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
The MTA estimates annual losses of about $50 million because of hidden license plates and unpaid tolls. Officials said they have recovered more than 98% of owed tolls since the start of its DMV Registration Suspension Program.
The agency, under a new law effective Sept. 1, began mailing 500 notices of imminent judgment Aug. 2 to vehicle owners who owed an average of $106,000 each in unpaid tolls and fines. More than 20,000 additional notices were mailed last Friday.
Officials said the top 10 violators together owe $3.6 million, an average of about $360,000 each in unpaid tolls and fines.
The MTA plans to mail batches of 5,000 notices next month to other repeat violators.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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