Vincent van der Pas / Flickr
From painting certain digits, using substances to cloud cameras or license plate inverters, New Yorkers are using various tricks to avoid paying a new toll introduced in Manhattan.
To try to combat constant congestion in downtown New York City, Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced the introduction of a 9 dollar toll to enter Midtown Manhattan, which came into effect last Sunday and charges by registering car license plates.
What Hochul didn’t count on was the ingenuity — or chico-cleverness — of New Yorkers, who are using several unusual tricks to hide the signs. The phenomenon reflects the problem of “phantom registrations”which costs the city hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
According to , these techniques include cross out or modify the digitspaint over the numbers or apply translucent coatings to make the number plates illegible to toll cameras.
A common trick is to mask a single digit or letter of registration. For example, one car had an “L” painted white to blend in with the background, while another used gray paint to hide an “E” and a “0.” These subtle modifications can confuse toll readers mounted on Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) gantries, preventing correct vehicle identification.
More elaborate techniques include curving the plates, applying white lines across the entire surface or using translucent substances that create a cloudy effect and refractive under camera flashes. Some drivers were inspired by school games, using tape or paint to change numbers – for example, turning a “6” into an “8”.
Other tactics include placing fake dealer license plates, which can be easily removed or replaced, or using high-tech devices such as license plate inverters which look like something out of a James Bond film and allow drivers to hide their number plates at the push of a button.
The prevalence of these tactics has raised concerns among authorities. Bronx Councilman Oswald Feliz, who has championed legislation against ghost signs, warned that the problem could worsen as drivers try to avoid congestion tolls. “If they are already using ghost plates to pass red lights and speed up, they will definitely think about use them to avoid tolls”, said Feliz.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking at a press conference Monday, acknowledged the public backlash against the toll and pledged to closely monitor its effectiveness. “We will analyze the data, including emergency response times and traffic patterns, to understand the impact of the toll,” Hochul said.
