An NYPD auto pound in Queens has banned unlicensed tow trucks from dropping cars off at the facility as part of the department's latest effort to crack down on rogue drivers who operate illegally in the city.
The message — sent out to more than a dozen towing companies and obtained by Gothamist — warns that tow trucks with out-of-state plates or without the proper city medallions will be turned away from the Queens auto pound, a sprawling facility in Springfield Gardens that serves as a holding lot for up to 4,000 cars seized by the police or abandoned on city streets.
“We will be checking driver's licenses and verifying [towing] medallions when trucks enter our intake bay. [Towing] intakes should also have a NYS-endorsed 'TW' plate and not have out-of-state plates affixed,” NYPD Lt. Jonathan Lusky wrote in the May 14 memo. “Please ensure that all trucks sent here to drop off vehicles can pass these basic requirements or we will be turning them away.”
The email calls the procedure a new development based on “recent complaint and subsequent investigation regarding unlicensed tow trucks.” An NYPD spokesperson said that the message was simply a reminder about long-standing rules at the facility.
The message went out after Gothamist reported on a Queens body shop openly advertising its fleet of illegal tow trucks in Queens on social media. The memo also comes as tow truck owners in New York City are increasingly skirting regulations and operating without legally required medallions. There are more than 700 unlicensed tow trucks operating on New York City streets, up from just a few dozen in 2021, according to a Gothamist analysis of city traffic camera data.
Unlicensed towers typically race to crash scenes, seeking to to hitch wrecked vehicles. The pricier the damaged car, the larger the potential payout. City regulators and others familiar with the towing industry say a common scheme involves unscrupulous body shop owners holding vehicles hostage to maximize insurance payouts and other fees.
Denis Koufos Sr., the owner of Casino Auto Body, said the recent crackdown has been effective at blocking tow trucks with out-of-state plates from making money fetching cars from the Queens pound.
"For the pound, it fixed the whole problem,” said Koufos, who has been in the business for more than three decades.
Casino Towing owner Denis Koufos Sr. said one of his employees responded to a crash scene when an unlicensed tow truck rolled up looking for a job. The operator was later arrested by police officers.
But Koufos said the problem of unlicensed towers on the streets remains worse than ever, and many illegal outfits still tow cars from crash scenes and take them to privately owned body shops.
“There’s no control. There's no enforcement,” he said.
Koufos pointed to a May 29 incident near his shop where one of his employees responded to the scene of a crash as an example of the persisting chaos in the towing industry. He said an unlicensed tower also showed up to the scene to try to get the job to tow the car, prompting Koufos’ employee to ask police officers at the scene to intervene.
The NYPD reported in a criminal complaint they arrested the unlicensed tower, Yury Kusayev, 29, and charged him with unlicensed towing, illegally removing vehicles from the scene of a crash, and driving without a license.
Kusayev’s vehicle remained impounded at the 100th Precinct on June 4. It had passenger license plates instead of the towing plates required to operate in the city — a loophole that city lawmakers have vowed to close.
A lawyer for Kusayev declined to comment.
