Someone is reusing surrendered license plates

From PIX11:

The DMV is supposed to destroy all license plates turned into its offices. A department official said the plates are sent to a recycler in upstate New York. But, the official admitted, there have been instances of surrendered plates turning up on other vehicles.

“Somebody is doing something illegal," Sandi said, speculating that someone, somewhere, must have the Durells' old plates.

Next, the Department of Finance sent the Durells a Notice of Impending Default, tacking on a $30 penalty and threatening to turn the case over to a collection agency.

Organized crime group flooded NYC streets with fake PA license plates

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced criminal charges against a dozen people accused of taking part in a major organized crime ring that fraudulently obtained more than a thousand Pennsylvania license plates and used them to fuel a massive criminal enterprise involving automobiles in multiple states.

By illegally renting the license plates in New York City and other locations, this crime ring profited significantly and allowed those who used the fraudulent plates to avoid paying more than $1 million in parking fines and EZ Pass tolls across several states.

The organized crime ring was headed by Rafael Levi, 50, of Brooklyn, N.Y., Attorney General Shapiro said at a news conference today at the Office of Attorney General in Strawberry Square. Charges were also filed today against 14 Pennsylvania businesses involved in the crime ring. The charges followed an extensive investigation by the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section and a statewide investigative grand jury.

“This organized criminal ring used legitimate business tactics – applying for licenses and insurance, car loans and purchases – for completely illegitimate purposes,” Attorney General Shapiro said at today’s news conference. “From fraudulently-obtained license plates to washed car titles to multiple other frauds, they gamed the system to rack up millions of dollars in illegal profits. It’s widespread criminal conduct and today we brought a halt to it.”

According to a grand jury presentment made public today, here are the major elements of the fraudulent schemes perpetrated by the Levi ring:

• License plates fraudulently obtained : Levi and his associates provided fraudulent documents, to the PA Departments of Transportation and State. As a result, they illegally obtained more than a thousand Pennsylvania license plates. They rented the plates for $400 a month or more. The people who got these plates avoided paying parking fines and EZ Pass tolls totaling $1 million in New York, Pennsylvania and neighborhood states.
• Fake insurance cards: The Levi ring provided cars and vehicles with fake insurance cards. When accidents would happen involving any of these cars, motorists filed claims with insurance companies – but there was no legitimate policy to pay on.
• Washed car titles : The ring issued phony letters to PennDOT which enabled them to get clean titles on vehicles. The Levi ring scammed $500,000 owed to financial institutions through this part of the scheme.
• Fraudulent odometer rollbacks: The ring rolled back odometer readings on 35 cars – enabled them to sell cars for more money than they otherwise would’ve sold for.
• Drivers’ licenses: The ring obtained Pennsylvania drivers licenses at an address in Pennsylvania that they defendants never lived at – another part of the scheme.

“Rafael Levi and his co-defendants used all these criminal schemes to live in the lap of luxury,” Attorney General Shapiro said, citing a prime example: Luxury autos which the ring obtained through fraud, including a red Ferrari.

Through this fraud, the ring would get one of their interlocking dealerships to “buy” a vehicle in cash. The ring then proceeded to wash the car through another of the Levi organization’s many dealerships. The ring avoiding paying more than $100,000 in PA sales tax in this manner.

Attorney General Shapiro said the investigation was ongoing, and investigators have notified law enforcement in other states of possible criminal conduct involving the Levi ring in other states.

This investigation began after the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section received information from the Pennsylvania State Police. Agents from the Attorney General’s office worked closely with State Police and investigators from the office of New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

City cracking down on license plate covers

From the Daily News:

Mayor de Blasio and the city’s top cop vowed Tuesday to crack down on drivers, including police officers, who cover their license plates to block enforcement cameras.

The Daily News reported that misplaced or covered license plates have let motorists violate traffic laws and dodge tickets in at least 144,852 cases over the past two years.

“If people do that, we are going to catch them and we are going to penalize them,” Mayor de Blasio told reporters during a press conference at police headquarters. “This is another area where we are going to deepen enforcement and there will be more consequences. So if someone has one of those covers I'd advise them to get them off real quick because the NYPD is coming.”

Police don't want to tow abandoned car

Can you post this. There's been an abandoned car on my block for several years with out of state plates from Maryland expired in 2007. It never gets tickets because when alternate side comes he removes the plates. The car never moves. Parking is difficult enough as this is by the Paul Klapper elementary school, Townsend Harris, Queens College and apartment buildings.

I made numerous 311 complaints and emailed Sergeant Turner at the 107 precinct who said she would take care of it. The car is still there and they have still not done anything ticket or tow.

I'm attaching pictures and below are my e-mails back and forth with my original and the sergeant's reply and my reply a few days later. It is located on Gravett Road between 149 Street and Main Street. Maybe your posting will get them to do something and not let NYC become the dumping ground for cars like the 70's.
__________________________

Dear Sergeant Turner,

The green Chrysler is still on the block with the Maryland plate of 7AZE49 which is expired for 9 YEARS expired August 2007.

As usual I am not surprised that last week again it was not given any ticket for the alternate side parking regulations or its expired plate. I still don't understand this as I just paid well over $100 to register my vehicle in order to not get a ticket and park legally. I guess I wasted my money.

If you take a drive by it down Gravett road between 149 street and main street you will see the Chrysler still at location with a paper on the dashboard saying something to the effect that the owner is a poor student.

As you know parking is difficult enough with an elementary school, high school, college and multiple apartment buildings.

I guess I will be continue seeing this car untouched and unmoved forever taking up a valuable parking space never to have up to date registration, towed, or ticketed.

___________________________

Good afternoon,

I will take care of it. My guys will chalk the tires this afternoon. If the vehicle is still at the location after three days it will be towed. Thank you for your concern!


Enjoy the rest of your day!


LaDatra Turner
Training/Traffic Sergeant

___________________________

Dear Sergeant Turner,

I am writing in regards to an abandoned vehicle opposite 144-42 Gravett road on the right side of the street right before the Paul Klapper school. As you know parking is scarce around queens college and Townsend Harris.

I have been trying to get this vehicle removed for quite some time. It is a green Chrysler Sebring convertible with a Maryland plate of 7AZE49.

This car has been parked in the same space for over 3 months. It never moves and the plate expired august 2007.
When alternate side comes a man removes the license plate then puts it back on. I am attaching pictures of the car on an alternate side day without the plate and one with the expired plate and of leafs, debris, and garbage piling up on the right side due to sanitation having to clean around the car.

I made numerous complaints to 311 with no avail. The responses are there is nothing wrong or the officers fixed the issue. This is untrue as officers never ticket or tow this vehicle.

Additionally I looked up in the city website and this vehicle owes $165 in unpaid parking tickets to NYC. All tickets for parking at this location dating back to 2014 hence the reason he removes the plates on alternate side dates.

My daily 311 complaints are 2/25/2016 #1-1-1217658091,1-1-1218812261, 2/26/2016# 1-1-1218150801, 2/27/2016 #1-1-1218643671, 2/28/2016 #1-1-1218812261 #1-1-1218956391, 2/29/2016 1-1-1219229021.

I guess the officers that continually brush this off are saying we can leave a car in the same spot on a city street without current registration for months on end and can remove plates to not get tickets.

If you drive by this car is still there 24/7 with the expired plates never moves and has expired registration.

Please have this car towed for the expired plates in violation of NYC traffic rule 4-08 (j)(1) and for parking over 7 days violating NYC traffic rule 4-08 (m) (9) or the out standing tickets.

I am sorry I have to email you but NONE of your officers are not doing their job. I did send the same pictures and message to your commanding officer on twitter as well.

Police can't seem to find derelict vehicle in plain sight

"I've complained about it before a few months ago and nothing was done, so I'm giving it another shot. On the block outside my apartment building at 65-77 Parsons Boulevard, there is an old Chevy SS covered in a tarp that has been parked at the same spot for nearly half a year.

On February 2 at 10:07 pm, I made a 311 service request to have the vehicle inspected. The SRN is C1-1-1208512861.

At 11:56 pm on that same evening, I received an email stating that "The Police Department responded to the complaint and with the information available observed no evidence of the violation at that time."

Having gone through this runaround before, I inspected the vehicle personally on Monday and looking under the tarp, found an outdated license plate, a missing registration sticker, and an outdated inspection sticker. Please see the attached photos.

I have yet to hear back on whether covering a vehicle with a tarp is legal, as it enables the owner to cover up things like expired registrations and contraband. Furthermore, in a neighborhood where parking is difficult to find, I do not like having to circle around my block searching for a space while this scofflaw driver treats a public street as his own permanent plot.

I am beginning to think that this driver must have a connection that enables him/her to openly flout the law. I've complained to the 107th Precinct in October of last year, and to any passing traffic agent that I've seen since then, but so far, nothing has been done."

-Your loyal reader

Out-of-state murder suspect caught in Jamaica

From the Daily News:

Queens cops have collared a man wanted in a triple murder in Ohio, police sources said Wednesday.

Ohio police had tipped off the NYPD that the suspect, Daveron Minnis, might be in Jamaica, Queens, and provided the license plate number for his white Dodge Charger, sources said.

An NYPD electronic license plate reader went off after it detected the tag near 177th St. and 106th Ave. Two 103rd Precinct officers, Caroline Arias and Brendan McGurran, transmitted the information over their radio and Officers Christopher Yonick and Robert Koehler responded, sources said.

The four cops followed the Charger, then boxed it in at 175th St. and 105th Ave. before taking Minnis into custody.

Civil servants obscuring license plates

From NBC:

A popular breed of license plate shield is allowing motorists to evade tickets and tolls even though the plastic cover appears transparent.

The "PhotoMaskCover" and similar products polarize light so that plate numbers and letters are clearly visible from directly behind a car.

But when viewed from an angle, the characters are obscured. Because cameras at toll bridges, tunnels, and intersections are often positioned from a side angle, the plate covers can help scofflaws slip through E-ZPass lanes and run red lights without fear of being tracked down for their transgressions.

"What they do is they direct the light at the plate and they obscure it from where they think the reader is going to be," said Port Authority Captain Ron Shindel, who is in charge of security at the George Washington Bridge. Shindel said his officers have made at least a dozen arrests for illegally covered license plates at bridge toll stations in the last thirty days.

The I-Team found the polarizing plate covers on vehicles in New Jersey and New York, despite laws in both states that prohibit the obscuring of license plates. In some cases even cars and trucks displaying law enforcement placards had the illegal plate covers.

Last month the I-Team spotted a black SUV parked outside the NYPD 103rd Precinct in Queens with the illegal covers obscuring both front and rear license plates. On the dashboard, a makeshift placard read "PO DiFalco 103 Pct Shield 24212"

NYPD spokesman Sgt. Brendan Ryan sent the I-Team a statement saying "this matter is under internal review."

Attempts to reach Officer DiFalco were unsuccessful.

The I-Team also spotted PhotoMaskCovers or similar devices on a Jeep displaying an FDNY placard and a Chrysler parked in a spot reserved for employees of the Nassau County Police Department.

Crocheron Ave littered with out-of-state junk cars

"Here in Auburndale, (on Crocheron Ave near 172 Street) what we have is a growing problem of cars with Illinois license plates. All five cars are owned by the same person, all of the plates have expired stickers. One of the cars is immobile, so is permanently attached to another with a tow bar.

Not only are these cars an eyesore, they have created a parking nightmare, and obviously are uninsured.

The attached pictures are of the two attached vehicles, others can be provided.

Here's a list of license plates as well.

S864356 VW Bug
H883574 Chevrolet Suburban
H950596 Toyota Corolla Wagon
17277X Ford F350 Truck
A425936 VW Bus

Local police have been contacted many times, as well as 311, no one has done anything. The cars rarely move, seemingly just for street sweeping, and are quickly parked back in place.

Any help is appreciated, I have been a reader of your website for a long time.

Thank You." - anonymous

Out-of-state plate legislation being introduced in Albany

From The Forum:

Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) has a message for drivers wielding out-of-state license plates who are hogging parking spaces on the street: Your time is up.

The lawmaker is introducing a bill this week in Albany that aims to “stop the abuse of the registration of out-of-state vehicles in all our communities.”

The bill, which Miller expects to soon have corresponding legislation in the state Senate, would prohibit vehicles with out-of-state license plates to park on the street between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. daily.

“We know some people are fortunate to own homes out of state, so there’ll be exemptions for them, and you’ll be able to get a pass for families from out of state,” Miller said “We don’t want to curtail tourists from coming in, so people can buy a pass for a specific period of time through the DMV.”

Saying that the idea behind the bill is that “parking is difficult and we all pay for that privilege,” Miller said he believes the bill will help residents find the often elusive street parking – as well as ensure that the state receives money it deserves from registrations.

“There are a lot of cars with out-of-state plates,” Miller said. “Out of every 50 cars, I’m sure you have five or six cars that have them.”

Five or six? More like 20 or 25. There are days when I walk down my block and there are more out-of-state plates than NY plates on the cars.

No electeds noticing out-of-state plates?

"Hello crappy,
I would like to know if you've heard of any discussions among our elected officials concerning the explosion of out of state plates on cars in the city, it seems that every other vehicle I see is either PA.,SC, ILL. etc... Thanks for any info - Nick"

This is easy enough to fix via legislation. But for some reason, Albany never gave a crap about this.

And they should be for more reasons than just lost revenue.

Midville commercial vehicle crap

From the Forum:

This commercial vehicle has, once again, been illegally parking in a driveway at 61-26 71st Street in Middle Village. A reader e-mailed The Forum about this, saying that the owner of the van has been parking there again and that another of the owner’s commercial vehicles has been parked on the street every night. The Forum previously published a photo of this van back in February, and it didn’t have a license plate back then, either. The homeowner has previously gotten citations for violating zoning regulations.

NYPD turns blind eye to suspicious truck

"Can you see this truck?? If you can, then your eyesight is better than the NYPD's.

This illegally parked tractor trailer has no license plates on either the cab or the trailer and has been parked on Atlantic Avenue since about 4 PM on Saturday with the compressor noisily running the whole time.

Calls about this have been made to the 102 Pct. and 311. You know what the response is??

"The Police Department responded to the complaint and determined that police action was not necessary."

Are they %&*#@+g crazy?!?!?!?!" - anonymous

DenDekker's bill calls for bike registration, insurance & license plates

From the NY Post:

A state lawmaker is trying to hit the brakes on rogue cyclists.

Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Queens) has introduced a bill that would mandate registration -- much as for motor vehicles -- for every bicycle in the state, complete with license plates hanging from the rear of the seats.

He also proposed a separate measure that would force every commercial cyclist in the state to carry identification and have insurance.

If the bill passes, the license plates would cost $25 in the first year and $5 each additional year for recreational cyclists.

Commercial cyclists -- such as deliverymen -- would pay $50 for the registration plus the cost of insurance.

He introduced the bills last week in response to the major expansion of bike lanes throughout the city under Mayor Bloomberg and city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

Accountant wins license plate jackpot

From the NY Post:

In a stunning security lapse, the federal General Services Administration mistakenly shipped nearly three dozen license plates marked "U.S. Government -- For Official Use Only" to a humble Queens accountant, The Post has learned.

The foul-up is part of a troubling pattern of lost license plates at the agency, which handles plates for every federal office except the military.

"I don't know how it happened. Mistakes can happen, but I guess in this day and age, you want to be careful," said Antonio Guadagnino, who received the package, addressed to him, via UPS at his small Astoria office.

"If they ended up in the wrong hands, they could be used to get into secure places. Not everyone is so honest," added Guadagnino, who said that he never held a federal contract and that his business consists mostly of personal income-tax returns.

Unsure of what to do with the plates, he handed them over to state Sen. Michael Gianaris, whose district office is in the same building.

But, Gianaris said, the GSA didn't appear overly concerned.

"The reaction we got was that this was business as usual," he said.

"This is not a time in our nation's history to be screwing around with federal identification. What would happen if they wound up in someone else's hands, someone who thought he could profit selling them -- or worse?"

Driving in this state becomes more expensive

From CBS 2:

New York's 9 million drivers are furious because in a rush to raise money -- and to make it seem like they weren't raising taxes -- the Legislature increased fees on just about everything having to do with driving.

* The cost of license plates went from $15 to $25

* Driver licenses from $50 to $64.50

* Car registrations from $44 to $55

* And when you register your car you have to pay a county "use tax" of $10 to $60

The eyesore ambulance

Apparently, we are not only selling off ambulances, but we are selling them to out-of-state drivers who park them here. This was at Catalpa and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood. Might I suggest a paint job?

WRBA Announces Plan To Report Out-Of-State Vehicles

The Woodhaven Residents' Block Association announced a program to report out-of-state vehicles that have remained parked on a Woodhaven street for extended periods of time.

Woodhaven residents should call the WRBA if an automobile with license plates from outside New York has been parked on their street for more than a month. After gathering information from the caller, the WRBA will contact the appropriate agency from the vehicle's state to inform them of the vehicle's whereabouts and to ask them to investigate whether the vehicle is appropriately registered.

“Parking has historically been hard to find in Woodhaven," said WRBA Director Vance Barbour. "If these vehicles' owners are dodging local state regulations, and skipping out on paying fees to New York State like the rest of the community pays, we owe it to our residents to call it to the attention of the proper authorities.”

The announcement, which came at the WRBA's open meeting this past Saturday, is a response to many Woodhaven residents' complaints about out-of-state vehicles taking up parking spaces and potentially evading the law.

"This is just one initiative in what's sure to be an exciting year of progress," said Edward K. Wendell, the WRBA's new president.

The WRBA's office phone number is (718) 296-3735.

Silver nixes new license plate fee

From the NY Post:

The controversial plan to require state motorists to spend $25 for new license plates they don't want appeared to be dead in the water last night.

Gov. Paterson said yesterday that he's willing to reconsider the fees he wanted to charge for new retro blue-and-gold plates if lawmakers can come up with ways to save the $129 million Albany would have collected by forcing people to purchase them.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said yesterday he and Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua) are ready to repeal the mandatory license-plate replacement.

"The plan to issue new license plates for all vehicles will not go forward," Silver said in a statement.

"We understand that the governor is committed to this repeal, and we will work with him."

New license plates in the pike

From the NY Times:

New York drivers will start paying for new license plates next year — whether they want to or not.

The new, highly reflective plates will be made at a men's prison upstate.

Beginning in April, car and tractor-trailer owners alike will have to shell out $25 for spruced-up license plates, by dictate of state leaders coming up with new ways to wring out revenue as an unprecedented budget shortfall looms.

The new plates, featuring a bold new gold hue and a highly reflective surface, will make the roads safer and “reflect New York’s force and its resilience,” according to the state’s commissioner of motor vehicles.

They will also generate $260 million in revenue and create more than 100 jobs — at the maximum security prison where inmates make the plates for up to 42 cents an hour.

Despite such benefits, some New Yorkers say the mandatory fee is an unfair tax on drivers already facing tough times. And, they wonder, what exactly is wrong with the plates right now?