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Port Authority police seized plates and vehicles from 30 motorists at the Lincoln and the GWB while issuing 142 summonses, sources there told Daily Voice.
They also impounded three vehicles responsible for more than $700,000 in unpaid tolls and fees -- including more than $130,000 tied to a single New Jersey company, Green Brothers Logistics Corp in Newark, they said.
Critics have long blasted state and city officials in New York for not taking the problem seriously enough. And with city congestion pricing about to begin, they fear such fraud could become much more prolific.
New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul, NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban and others responded on March 12 with the announcement of a multi-agency city-state task force.
They'd already started, they said, with detail on Monday at a pilot trio of bridges and tunnels into and out of Manhattan that produced the impounds, summonses and arrests.
License plates that are altered, replaced or covered by electronically-operated flaps -- as well as a proliferation of counterfeit temporary paper tags that appear to be issued elsewhere -- cost the city and state countless millions in unpaid tolls every year.
Toll readers and traffic cameras to this point haven't been able to detect the illegal tags either in bulk or with any kind of consistency. It's been up to sharp-eyed officers to nail violators.
However, law enforcers on both sides of the Hudson River have begun pairing new tech with deeper and more widespread training to attack the problem.
Partnering with the governor's office and the NYPD are the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department -- which handles the bridge and tunnels -- the New York City Sheriff’s Office, MTA bridge and tunnel officers, the New York State Police and the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles.
"Outlaws have been purchasing fake or paper license plates online [from dealers] to avoid tolls and tickets, as well as to evade accountability for serious crimes," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, "but we’re pumping the brakes on [that],"
"These cars might not have license plates, but we’ve got their number," he added, "and we’re going after anyone who tries to make their car untraceable.”
Vehicles with bogus or modified plates -- or no tags at all -- are just about always unregistered, uninsured, or stolen. Even worse, many criminals use them in robberies, shootings and other crimes to avoid detection.
In response, authorities said they won't only be targeting vehicles at the various crossings -- including the Holland Tunnel and possibly the Outerbridge Crossing -- but just about everywhere in the city. And it'll include vans and electric bikes, among various other personal means of transportation.
Monday's crackdown at the three Manhattan crossings utilized marked and undercover police vehicles, automated license plate readers and officers assigned specifically to sniff out ghost tags.
Hochul also announced during Tuesday's news conference at the Triborough that fines for covered plates have been boosted to $250 from $60 as the campaign ramps up.
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