Nearly 200 people were slapped with tickets, three were arrested and more than two dozen vehicles were seized as NYPD officers went out to enforce the contentious congestion pricing plan in Manhattan this week, authorities said.
The department said 81 of the summonses were for improper or covered plates, which could mean plates that have a number or letter scratched off or painted over, as The Post observed on several vehicles Sunday — when the $9 toll kicked in.
Officers launched the enforcement effort on Tuesday within the congestion tolling zone below 60th Street, which effectively encompasses all of Manhattan south of Central Park.
Cops said 82 people were issued summonses on Tuesday, and another 113 were doled out Wednesday between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. Of the Tuesday tickets, 29 were for fraudulent or obscured plates and 52 of Wednesday’s, cops and sources said.
Other summonses were doled out for tinted windows, unregistered and uninspected vehicles, suspended or revoked registrations and other moving violations, the NYPD said.
Two people were arrested Tuesday on charges of aggravated unlicensed operation and criminal possession of a forged instrument, according to authorities.
Someone who was already wanted by the NYPD was busted within the congestion zone Wednesday, cops said — though no information was immediately available on that person’s alleged offense.
Seventeen vehicles were seized on Tuesday and 10 on Wednesday, cops and sources said.
Since the new tax took effect Sunday, all standard passenger vehicles using an E-ZPass are being charged $9 per day for entering the zone during daytime hours, defined as 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Many New Yorkers are concerned about congestion pricing effectively turning commuters away from the roads and onto the subways – especially after multiple publicized crimes on the rails in recent weeks.
At a press conference Monday, The Post asked Gov. Kathy Hochul to weigh in on how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority or the state plans to determine the efficacy of the new toll scheme, which aims to raise billions to fund the agency’s capital improvement plan.
“There’ll be more data than you can imagine. Today is the first day, I wouldn’t count today’s data. Let’s give it a few days to sink in and get a trend,” Hochul told The Post.
“We’re going to be analyzing the data to see what the impacts are,” the governor added. “I’m looking at everything: response times for emergency vehicles, I’m going to be looking at the length of drive time, I’ve got a lot of data I’ll be analyzing.”