Controversial Yusef Salaam traffic stop highlights NY issue of 19K ‘misrepresented’ license plates, insurance
New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam has been facing heat for a traffic stop that revealed he was driving a car with out-of-state plates — highlighting an issue that’s reached crisis levels across the Empire State.
State data reviewed by The Post revealed that 18,753 drivers “misrepresented” the location of their vehicles in 2022, the most recent year numbers were available.
That means the cars were insured out-of-state or in another county within the state, not where the driver resides or parks the vehicle — as was the case with Salaam, whose car had Georgia plates.
Many motorists intentionally register and insure their cars in other states to snag premiums considerably lower than New York, which has among the highest rates in the country.
Flouting the law by insuring the car elsewhere hurts New York drivers who play by the rules. A small insurance pool contributes to higher rates, consumer advocates say.
But only rarely is alleged insurance fraud investigated, let alone prosecuted — though a Staten Island high school principal pled guilty to car insurance fraud in 2018 for registering cars at a Pennsylvania address.
In Salaam’s case, he was pulled over in a BMW with Georgia plates on suspicion of having illegally tinted windows.
The councilman had relocated to New York City from Georgia in 2022, registering to vote on July 27 that year, but didn’t change his plates until after the incident.
Car owners who move to New York are required by law to register their vehicles with the state and revise their residency with their insurer within 30 days of re-locating.
“It’s not a good look for a New York City councilman to have out-of-state plates,” said state Assembly Insurance Committee Chairman David Weprin.
Weprin said the misrepresentation is “certainly something we’re going to look into.”
Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) accused Salaam of “fraud,” and doubled down on his call that the councilman should step down as chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee.
“It’s a horrible look. It’s cheating,” Holden said.
In New York, seeing cars with out-of-state places from Florida and Pennsylvania is common.
Many rental cars in the city also have out of state plates and insurance, Weprin noted.
Data reported to the Department of Financial Services by auto insurers found that fraud or misrepresentation cost New York State $38.3 million.
About 75% of the cars misidentified for insurance purposes were reported in New York City — Brooklyn accounted for nearly 28% of the total, Queens 24%, Bronx 20%, Manhattan 4%, Staten Island, 1%.
Another 11% of out of state cars were found on Long Island.
Cars with Florida plates or insurance accounted for nearly half of the out-of-state misrepresented vehicles in New York — 48.79%. Cars with Pennsylvania plates were second with 15% of the total, and North and South Carolina made up another 9% combined, followed by New Jersey and Virginia, with nearly 3% of the total.
Meanwhile, New York City Department of Finance 2023 data show that a large number of Parking and Camera Violations come from vehicles with out-of-state plates.
While many violators have NY or New Jersey plates, 4.4 million violations came from states not particularly close to the city, including Indiana (117,660), Georgia (144,355), Pennsylvania (599,884), Virginia (130,710), and North Carolina (104,248).
The Post has reached out to Salaam for comment.
