Assemblywoman Rajkumar Proposes Bill to Eradicate Ghost Cars in New York

Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar introduced the “Ghostbuster Act,” a legislative plan to eliminate “ghost cars” from New York’s streets on Monday, November 11th. These vehicles, equipped with fake, missing, or obscured license plates, are frequently involved in criminal activities and are able to bypass tolls and traffic enforcement systems, resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue for the state.

“I authored the Ghostbuster Act to put the brakes on the thousands of ghost cars in New York City. There is a clear connection between these illegal vehicles and violent crime. They are involved in hit-and-runs, robberies, and shootings. They also cost us hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue,” said Rajkumar. The bill seeks to equip law enforcement with the tools to swiftly remove these vehicles from the streets.

The rise of ghost cars has been linked to the pandemic, which led to the temporary issuance of paper license plates. This policy allowed counterfeit plates to increase, enabling car owners to bypass insurance and tolls, and use the vehicles for illegal purposes. Since then, ghost cars have become a major issue in New York, contributing to crime and financial losses.

The Ghostbuster Act provides law enforcement with the authority to boot or tow vehicles with fake plates and to take action against vehicles with obscured or missing plates. The bill also allows officers to use Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) to enforce violations, even when the license plate is counterfeit. 

To further address the issue, the bill eliminates the recognition of out-of-state temporary paper plates, making such plates presumptive evidence of being counterfeit. The bill also strengthens the existing ban on selling counterfeit plates by preventing online platforms from enabling such transactions.

Rajkumar’s Ghostbuster Act builds on her previous work addressing crime and safety issues in New York. In 2024, she successfully passed the SMOKEOUT Act, which has led to the closure of over 1,200 illegal smoke shops, and authored Priscilla’s Law, which requires e-bikes to be registered and insured.

Mayor Eric Adams expressed support for the bill, stating, “We’re going to need our partners in Albany, and that’s why Assemblywoman Rajkumar is so important, as we continue to put together a State plan of how do we crack down even more on these ghost cars” 

The Ghostbuster Act is still pending a bill number and aims to be a crucial step toward reducing crime and protecting state revenues by eliminating ghost cars from New York’s roads.