Q&A
Council Member Brannan questions Department of Finance on fake plate crackdowns
3:34:26
·
125 sec
Council Member Justin Brannan inquires about the Department of Finance's involvement in fake plate crackdowns, asking for data on projected revenue loss. Commissioner Preston Niblack responds by detailing the department's recent initiatives to combat fake plates, including flagging misused plates, automating dispute processes, and conducting regular enforcement operations.
- The department now flags plates that have been reported as lost or stolen for easier identification during hearings.
- A new system allows automatic filing of disputes for affected customers through the parking summons advocate.
- The sheriff's office has incorporated flagged plates into their license plate readers for more effective enforcement.
- Regular crackdowns are being conducted at major traffic points like the Queens Midtown and Battery Tunnels.
Justin Brannan
3:34:26
I wanted to ask a question about the, and what DOF's involvement is in the, the fake plates and the fake plate crackdowns.
3:34:36
Do you have a a running tally of of, you know, how much money we've, how much money we project we've lost?
3:34:44
What have we what what I saw it's coming in today.
3:34:47
I saw it looked like they were preparing to do another crackdown by the battery tunnel, which is great to see.
3:34:53
Do we have numbers on that?
Preston Niblack
3:34:54
I don't have numbers with me today, but I would we can follow-up with you.
3:34:58
But just to enumerate a couple of the things that we've been doing, I mean, this has really become a big issue more recently in the last couple of years.
3:35:07
And some of the things that we've done first of all, now when people come in and they, you know, people will come in and they come in multiple times because the the person who's using their plate, for example, is getting multiple tickets because they know they're gonna have to pay.
3:35:22
We now flag that, and so that the ALJ, if there's a hearing, can see that that has been flagged as, you know, a plate that's been being misused because it's been lost or stolen.
3:35:36
We've also now got the, we're gonna let the parking summons advocate, we're gonna let customers who've gotten tickets, give their consent to the parking summons advocate, and then we will automatically file, a dispute on those tickets on their behalf.
3:35:54
So they don't have to keep coming back in and and submitting multiple times and having hearings until we can track down the vehicle itself.
3:36:02
We now look for these plates.
3:36:03
We've got the plates flagged, so they're now sort of in the sheriff's office, cars, license plate readers, you know, to look for them, and we've been doing, you know, regular, crackdowns, you know, in the Queen's Midtown, Battery Tunnel, etcetera, to to look for those.
3:36:20
And that's part of you know, they usually are looking for, commercial motor vehicle tax debtors, but now we've started looking more aggressively also for flagged ghost plates.
Justin Brannan
3:36:30
Great.
3:36:31
Council member Ressler.
