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.”…