Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is calling for increased penalties for drivers who evade speed and red-light cameras, citing a report from his office that illegal ghost plates are costing the city upward of $200 million annually.

Levine's report showed more than 5% of vehicles passing through city cameras now have unreadable plates due to various evasion tactics, including plate covers, fake paper plates and obstruction devices.

“This is first and foremost, a safety concern, because the people who are covering their plates or using fake plates know very well that they can pass through a red light or speed pass to school with impunity,” he said during a “Mornings On 1” interview Tuesday. “But also, it’s a fairness issue because most of us who are paying tolls, we don't get a break.”

Levine argued that the evasion of traffic laws undermines pedestrian and driver safety and threatens the city's toll revenue.

“This is engaging pedestrians and other drivers, and we depend on toll revenue to fund mass transit and transportation more broadly,” he added.

To combat this issue, Levine is pressing for more severe consequences for both the use of evasion devices and their sale. He proposed increasing fines, adding points to driver's licenses and implementing stricter enforcement measures, such as vehicle booting or towing.

“We need to enforce these laws. All of these devices are against the law. Even a dark cover over a license plate—against the law. But you can go online right now, and you can buy fake metal plates, fake paper plates. There's even these James Bond-like screens where you hit a button in the driver's seat and a little piece of plastic drops down as you go through the toll. So we've got to crack down on that sale,” he said. “And then for people who do use these devices, there has to be more severe consequences right now, if a traffic agent sees you on the street with fake plates parked on the curb, it's only a $65 fee. That should be double. There should be points on your license, and that car should be booted or towed.”

In March, the city and state launched a joint task force to crack down on "ghost cars." Gov. Kathy Hochul, at the time. also proposed legislation that included higher penalties for toll theft, but there had been no movement on the bill in the state Legislature.

Levine is also suggesting that technological advancements could help address the problem, proposing the use of electronic tags on registration stickers and improving plate imaging technology.

“I think we could use better technology here. First off, your registration sticker could have an electronic tag, so that'd be one more way you can get a read on a car. Secondly, the technology used to image the plates could be more sophisticated and could also take account of the make and model and color of the car, and probably could match a lot of plates that is missing today. So, technology could yet be part of the answer. But first and foremost, we've got to enforce the existing laws, and that's just not happening enough today.”