Meet the man exposing NYC's toll-dodging license plate cheats and their sneaky ... trends now
A vigilante is patrolling the streets of New York City – exposing motorists with illegal license plates and the very sneaky tricks they use to conceal their true identity.
Gersh Kuntzman, 58, cycles across the Big Apple armed with a camera to record the culprits and a Sharpie and screwdriver to fix their plates.
But cleaning the streets completely is a near-impossible task. Corrupted license plates are everywhere – and, Kuntzman says, the main offenders are cops.
Scofflaws' tactics range from bending the plates to cover the license numbers to intentionally scraping off numbers and letters. Some even use magnetic, fake leaves or reflective covers to conceal their plates.
The practice helps culprits dodge tolls, speed cameras and red light cameras. Criminals can also use it cover up crimes including vehicle theft.
In New York, it's estimated to cost up to $100 million a year. But license plate tampering is a problem nationwide.
Gersh Kuntzman records himself exposing a beaten up license plate in New York City
Kuntzman takes a sharpie to the scuffed up license plates and redraws the covered numbers
Some motorists even use magnetic fake leaves like the one pictures to cover their plates
On a ride-out with Kuntzman on Thursday, DailyMail.com witnessed his eagle-eyed ability to spot culprits first-hand. And it took a matter of minutes to find two separate vehicles whose plates allegedly fall foul of New York traffic rules.
We met Kuntzman at 3pm outside his office in downtown Manhattan and picked up Citibikes for a tour of the 'hotspots'.
He explained that concealed license plates are rife in the area around City Hall and the New York courts, including the criminal court where Donald Trump is currently on trial.
And that's partly because police and court staff are, allegedly, some of the worst offenders, Kuntzman said.
The first case on our ride-out was at a row of parked cars on Federal Plaza, close to New York County Supreme Court.
But it wasn't a cop. The scuffed up plates indicated the Ford Explored belonged to a member of the media, identifiable by the letters 'NYP'.
Kuntzman took out his phone, and his sharpie, and started filming.
'Let's just fix this one up, make it look right,' he says while redrawing the plate to make its numbers and letters clearly visible.
He also runs the plate number through a website which checks for fines linked to the plate. The check reveals numerous traffic violations, the last in April 2023.
'Maybe he'll start getting those tickets again,' Kuntzman adds after the plate is cleaned up.
Just nine minutes later, we're riding along nearby Vesey Street when Kuntzman calls out, 'let's stop right here, I think I see another.'
He points out a silver Mercedes-Benz which appears to have a number obscured on its front plate. A check of the rear plate shows it's also had another, different number obscured.
On the dash, a placard identifies its driver as a 'trooper surgeon on official medical business'.
Kuntzman runs this plate and also discovers it's repeatedly been hit with traffic violation fines.
He hits record on his iPhone and takes the sharpie to the scuffed up numbers.
'Some surgeon this guy turned out to be, he can't even do surgery on a freaking license plate,' Kuntzman declares.
Just a couple of hours later, Kuntzman's
