The Real Ghost Car Crackdown Edition

NYC has many problems, and apparently ghost cars are one of them.

This article was written by Gersh Kuntzman and originally published by StreetsBlog NYC.

Remember how we’ve been critical of the city’s “effort” to get ghost cars off the street? Well, here’s some good news: The Sanitation Department’s new “ghost car” task force — a joint operation with the previously sclerotic NYPD — is showing initial promise.

In just 20 days from Sept. 9 through Oct. 6, the new task force towed away 1,428 cars, or roughly 71 per day. (A top Sanitation official had told me at the Sept. 18 unveiling that ghost cars “are everywhere,” as if I didn’t know that!).

Here’s how the first 1,348 of those cars broke down (the deeper analysis lags the total count):

Of course, there’s so much more work left to do. For one thing, the Sanitation Department said that a high percentage of the seized cars were later claimed by their owners, who suddenly came up with the paperwork in question. The agency has previously been undermined by owners who suddenly “claim” the vehicle. Eventually, these scofflaws will learn that getting towed ends up costing hundreds of dollars.

But scammers are always one step ahead of the po-po.