How Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax exposed an epidemic of ‘ghost cars’ instead

Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax in New York City has exposed widespread 'ghost cars'—vehicles registered out-of-state but used full-time in the city to avoid high insurance costs. A Streetsblog analysis found 21,000 such vehicles with annual violations, while a City Council survey revealed 20% of non-New York-plated cars had mismatched or fraudulent plates. The tax also acts as an auditor for residency fraud, catching non-residents falsely claiming out-of-state status to avoid the surcharge.