The MTA on Tuesday says a “sting operation” has begun on the Brooklyn side of the Battery Tunnel, with officers stopping cars with obscured plates as they try to enter the congestion zone.
Monday, January 27, 2025 11:15PM
Michelle Charlesworth reports from Red Hook.
RED HOOK, Brooklyn (WABC) — Congestion pricing is now in its third week, and the MTA is still sending its message to drivers trying to avoid paying the tolls.
The MTA on Tuesday says a “sting operation” has begun on the Brooklyn side of the Battery Tunnel with officers stopping cars with obscured plates as they try to enter the congestion zone.
Eyewitness News was there as several cars were pulled over without a New York license plate in the front. One man who had problematic paper plates was arrested.
“Very simplistic,” said NYPD Transportation Deputy Chief Thomas Alps. “Maybe tape altering the E to an L things of that nature, a lot of people with plastic coverings with the prism in it. Alter any pictures you take of it. “
Different agencies from the MTA, to NYPD to state police are working together to do these kinds of crackdowns twice a week.
“We are starting to notice high tech stuff called Nanofilm,” added Alps. “It’s a film that goes over your plate, and when a camera snaps a photo of it, the plate is blank. That is a threat to us because when we see the plates it looks normal but when the camera sees it, it’s blank.”
Those who cover their plates or alter them do this at great expense to the rest who drive. Fraud and failure to pay for other reasons comes to at least $240 million per year according to the MTA. However, MTA officials say they’ve already recouped $113 million of that by going after people.
The nanofilm online cost no more than $7.
After three weeks, numbers say 92% of drivers pay the tolls. The other 8% don’t pay or at least not upfront.
RELATED | Nearly 27K less vehicles in Manhattan’s Central Business District amid congestion pricing: MTA
The latest figures on the recently enacted congestion pricing.
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The MTA on Tuesday says a “sting operation” has begun on the Brooklyn side of the Battery Tunnel, with officers stopping cars with obscured plates as they try to enter the congestion zone.
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