A Harlem man blows the whistle on the temporary license plate industry

WNYC News | Jun 15, 2023

Not every temporary license plate is what it appears to be.

On thousands of cars across the region, these paper plates lead to a network of used car dealerships and Internet businesses selling them illegally.

One Harlem man unwittingly found himself in the middle of this network, delivering these license plates to buyers without understanding that his actions broke the law. Now, he's exposing his former employer.

Kareem Ulloa-Alvarado is a former courier for an illegal temporary license plate business. Jesse Coburn is an investigative reporter for the news site Streetsblog. Coburn has been closely following the impact of these so-called "ghost" plates on the New York City region.

Ulloa-Alverado and Coburn joined WNYC's Michael Hill to talk about the temporary plates industry and how Ulloa-Alverado's life was changed by it.

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