How Zohran Mamdani's pied-a-terre tax exposed an epidemic of 'ghost cars' instead | Fortune

A Fortune investigation examines how New York’s scrutiny of second-home owners under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “pied-à-terre” tax is exposing an “epidemia” of “ghost cars” registered outside the area. The piece cites Streetsblog analysis showing nearly 21,000 vehicles registered outside the tri-state region (plus Pennsylvania) racked up at least one violation in NYC every quarter, suggesting they are kept and driven in the city while registered elsewhere to avoid higher insurance rates. City Council oversight staff reviewed more than 3,500 parked vehicles and found that of 768 non-New York-plated cars, one in five had mismatched, temporary, or fraudulent “no-hit” plates. Those vehicles owed nearly 2.5 times more in fines but paid only 16%. The article also notes Department of Finance audits related to STAR and Senior Citizen exemptions and describes “garage fraud” as a national rate-evasion pattern tied to garaging ZIP codes.