A city councilman is celebrating newly passed legislation aimed at shedding light on the issue of so-called “ghost cars” within the city.

The legislation, sponsored by Manhattan Councilman Erik Bottcher, will now mandate the New York City Department of Transportation disclose data regarding the number of unenforceable red light and speed camera tickets because of fake, paper or obscured license plates.

Bottcher highlighted the widespread support for the legislation on “Mornings On 1” Monday, saying, "All my colleagues who do drive a lot also support this legislation because they're paying the tolls and they also hate it when drivers decide not to pay, decide that they don't want to pay tickets, so they deface their license plates.”

The term "ghost cars" refers to vehicles that evade traffic cameras throughout the five boroughs by defacing their license plates.  

“It's very dangerous because we're talking about cars that could be involved in very serious crimes. Imagine a hit-and-run where the camera picks up the car, but the license plate has been defaced,” Bottcher said.

Under the legislation, the city will be required to make the data on this issue publicly available online on a quarterly basis. Previously, journalists and advocates had to submit Freedom of Information Law requests to obtain the information.

When asked about the NYPD's priorities regarding this matter, Bottcher expressed hope for a change, noting that other vehicle issues are strictly enforced.

“I think that the parking enforcement agents are the frontline here because of all the things in New York that get enforced,” he said. “I think we can all agree that parking regulations are still getting enforced. They can write these tickets.”