Talk:Vehicle registration plates of New York

Skipped "Empire" and "Empire Gold" series
I, for one, am convinced that the "Empire" plates started at ACA-1000, and that the "Empire Gold" plates started at FAB-1000.

These two sources say so:

http://www.licenseplates.cc/highs.php?where=NY

http://www.15q.net/ny.html

The first source also lists all the "Empire" and "Empire Gold" series that have been skipped. It does not give reasons for these skips (except in the case of the AAx and ABx series, which it says were used on paper In Transit plates), but looking at the list, one can certainly guess why many of these series were not issued.

ASS, BRP, CLT, CUM, CUN, DAM, FAG, FAT, FCK and FRT, for instance, were more than likely regarded as being politically incorrect, as were series containing "FU".

CDC, DEA, EPA, FAA, FCC and FDA, meanwhile, are all abbreviations of federal agencies.

And the NYSDMV probably thought that, in general, car buyers would not want a plate containing BAD, DUD or FLU. Bluebird207 (talk) 03:43, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Bluebird, the webpages you cited are not official. Therefore I reverted it. I suggest you take a look at RS. It's easy to discount a letter combination nobody has ever seen. –BuickCenturyDriver 17:47, 17 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Also several of the above acronyms do appear in the chart for the old plates, so you can't really be sure whether or not the FAA series wasn't issued. –BuickCenturyDriver 00:00, 18 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah, but that was a different time - some combinations that might be considered inappropriate today might not have been considered as such then, and vice versa. Bluebird207 (talk) 04:31, 18 November 2012 (UTC)
 * My cousin has plates with the FCC prefix: see this. –BuickCenturyDriver 12:15, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

Nearly two years on from when I started this debate, and still it doesn't look like we're anywhere near the end of it.

If people choose not to believe LicensePlates.cc, 15q.net and other "hobby" sites, then fine.

But I do believe these sites. And here's why.

I have visited the state of NY four times since the "Empire Gold" plates were introduced in 2010 - each time for at least 55 days - and ten times in all since the "Empire" plates first appeared in 2001.

On these visits, not only have I stayed with my uncle just outside Tannersville in Greene County, but I've also been to New York City and to Niagara Falls - covering almost the entire length of the Thruway - and I've been to Albany, the Adirondacks and Watkins Glen International, too.

As one might gather, then, I've seen tens - possibly even hundreds - of thousands of NY-registered passenger vehicles.

But not once have I seen one with an ordinary registration plate (that is, an embossed plate as opposed to flat special plates or paper temporary plates) containing an AAx or ABx combination, or FAA.

Nor, for that matter, have I seen a non-photoshopped photo of an NY passenger vehicle whose registration plate contains any of these combinations.

Just so everyone knows. Bluebird207 (talk) 16:17, 12 July 2014 (UTC)
 * The pages that say these letter prefixes were skipped are fan sites and are not official. There is no way to prove they were actually not used. 174.255.112.5 (talk) 17:33, 7 February 2015 (UTC)


 * That doesn't automatically mean these "fan" sites are wrong, though, does it?


 * They may not be perfect sources, but I certainly wouldn't call them unreliable or useless either.


 * I, for one, believe each of them. Indeed, I contribute now and again to LicensePlates.cc.


 * (I should also point out that while I am a license plate enthusiast, I'm actually not a member of the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association.)


 * And at this stage - having visited the state of NY often enough since the "Empire" plates were introduced in '01, having been almost everywhere in the state and having seen thousands and thousands of NY-registered passenger vehicles along the way, and also having seen many photos of such vehicles and individual plates from such vehicles on Flickr, eBay and the like - I do not believe that I will see a genuine ordinary "Empire" or "Empire Gold" passenger plate (that is, embossed and not flat like a vanity plate, and not some sort of demo plate or a fake), or a non-photoshopped photo of one, that contains an AAx or ABx combination, or FAA, followed by four digits.


 * I have to ask - can anyone actually claim to have seen such a plate? Bluebird207 (talk) 18:58, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Well, I've seen ATF and GNC prefixes, so it's possible names of other corporate companies and agencies aren't skipped after all.
 * I could send you a picture but you wouldn't believe it anyways. 174.252.16.12 (talk) 19:52, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
 * I would believe it, actually - because ATF and GNC are among the prefixes I've seen in the past, either on my visits to NY or on non-photoshopped photos.
 * I've never actually said - and nor, for that matter, have the "fan" sites - that all abbreviations of corporations and federal agencies have been or will be skipped. And as you've pointed out, at least two such abbreviations have indeed been issued normally.
 * But that still doesn't mean that all such abbreviations have been or will be issued. Bluebird207 (talk) 21:35, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
 * here is a baseplate with a supposedly "skipped" prefix FAA-6054
 * Passenger base plates starting with the letter H are beginning to show up NoInsurance  (chat?) 11:39, 19 May 2015 (UTC)

found this on ebay — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.99.19.114 (talk) 15:28, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Passenger plates for pickups?
When did NY start issuing non-commercial plates for pickups? I know it was in the '90s, but I can't find a reference. It's relevant to the Taconic State Parkway article. Thanks.--Triskele Jim 00:52, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Nonprivate passenger plates
This page focuses strongly on private-passenger plates (e.g. plates for noncommercial, nongovernmental passenger vehicles) I've been thinking about creating a page/pages for plates of other vehicles, but am of several minds on how to organize this. In no particular order, my thoughts are: I'm a little bit stuck on how many pages to create, however, as this could rapidly expand to 20 pages, were we to give each plate type its own page (ambulance plates, taxi plates, tow truck plates, commercial vehicles, farm/agricultural plates, etc). Thoughts? --Badger151 (talk) 18:13, 20 August 2016 (UTC)
 * 1) keep this page as a parent article, and breaking out the info specific to private passenger plates into a new article (e.g. Private Passenger Registration Plates of New York), then also creating a page for commercial plates, linked from the parent article, OR
 * 2) keep the info on passenger plates in this article, then creating a page for commercial plates, OR
 * 3) some other organization that I haven't thought of.
 * Off the top of my head, I’d suggest keeping the existing page, and starting another for “all others” (until that needs to be split). Useddenim (talk) 03:29, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Deleting useless section: historical "regional codes"
This article contains a database of license plate number ranges issued by New York DMV, by county of registrant or issuing office, from 1973 through 1986. The table was added on 2008-04-02, the day this article was created. On 2010-09-02, this bulky list acquired an even larger "Alphabetical cross-reference".

This is kind of ridiculous. Practically all of those plates were off the road by 1988, now 28 years ago. I find this information useless, esoteric, unencyclopedic clutter that invites more of the same. What about the system(s) of locality codes used before 1973? Why are they left out? To this day, every local office in NY hands out new license plates with consecutive numbers – can we not list these "allocations" too, however small or unintentional? (Are plates mailed from Albany or other place(s) really no longer geographical? How would we know?) Even if no one has traced the unintentional geographical allocations, different letter ranges get handed out in different years, months, weeks, and days. Why is that valuable history left out? Was FJK-1234 given out in 2013 or 2014? What day did HAA debut?

I considered collapsing the section, but collapsing is not recommended in article space. That rule forces the issue: Either something belongs in an article, or it does not. I considered moving it to a break-out page, but that makes it seem even more insignificant. This database might belong somewhere else, but not on Wikipedia. So I removed the section, with edit comment "-[I deleted the] very interesting list of 1973-1986 county codes. WP:INDISCRIMINATE [Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information.] WP:NOTREPOSITORY [Wikipedia is not a mirror or a repository of links, images, or media files.] WP:ALTOUT [Wikipedia:Alternative outlets]". (Brackets added here with expansion of the shorthand.) 80 minutes later, someone put it back, with edit summary "not WP:RS" (WP:RS is Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources). (That summary is completely irrelevant to the edit or the restoration, and it says nothing about the issues raised. It speaks badly of the editor.)

Is there a consensus as to whether a table of NY license plate number allocations from 1973–1986 (with cross-reference) belongs in the article "Vehicle registration plates of New York"? Some say the whole article is trivial. (I do not.) But I think a history of blocks of serial numbers, however admirable or well-curated, is absurd. Still, maybe tables of disused tag numbers belong on Wikipedia. I'm not the boss. (Oh, and the whole section is unsourced.)

(My mistake: I should have kept or moved the paragraph "On the 1973–1986 orange base, plates were issued in letter blocks by county, initially with phonetic combinations similar to the county's name or the names of communities within the county.") -A876 (talk) 22:32, 6 November 2016 (UTC)


 * I am going to say it is of dubious accuracy. I got a plate in Cayuga County that starts with HGH, which is allegedly assigned to Ulster County, miles away. I am in favor of removing it as unsourced and potentially inaccurate. 67.245.209.170 (talk) 02:59, 10 December 2018 (UTC)

What does it mean if a NY license plate has only 4 digits?
What does it mean if a NY license plate has only 4 digits? 2604:2000:F64D:FC00:A972:D14D:7B06:CAA1 (talk) 06:54, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

To clarify—4 digits, but NO letters. 2604:2000:F64D:FC00:A972:D14D:7B06:CAA1 (talk) 06:56, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

The JKI series has not been used as JKH and JKJ series in licenseplates.cc
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.213.221.135 (talk • contribs) 05:13, 30 June 2019‎ (UTC)
 * This loon has had to resort to making a comment on the talk page as  ([Edit=Require autoconfirmed or confirmed access]; [Move=Require autoconfirmed or confirmed access]) for one year on 19 March 2019. Apparently this protection needs to be expanded to all Vehicle registration plates pages and associated talk pages, and perhaps extended to "indefinite". Useddenim (talk) 13:04, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Do you mean expanding this protection to the corresponding articles for all the other U.S. states and territories and Washington D.C., *and* the corresponding articles for Australia, New Zealand, and every Aussie state and territory (since this "loon" comes from that part of the world)?
 * I wholeheartedly agree if so. As I've said plenty of times at this stage, I feel that if this individual is incapable of editing Wikipedia responsibly, then he/she is better off doing other things, some of which don't involve being in front of a computer.
 * I'm fully aware that protecting *all* these license plate articles means that I have to stop using *my* IP address and create a proper account if I want to continue editing them and updating the most recent serials, but I'm happy with that. 37.228.231.144 (talk) 13:49, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
 * See . Useddenim (talk) 20:42, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
 * He/she is back. And even after only four edits, it's pretty clear that he/she has learned absolutely *nothing*. 37.228.231.144 (talk) 12:56, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
 * WP:PP requested again. However, the block would cover IPs 112.213.221.000 through 112.213.221.255, so you wouldn't be affected. Useddenim (talk) 16:45, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
 * This edit war caused the protection. It's obvious that I has been skipped since the three-letter to four digit format was introduced in 2001.--108.53.232.130 (talk) 15:19, 2 September 2019 (UTC)

.


 * April 1, 2020 – future
 * TBD
 * TBD
 * ABC-1234
 * TBD
 * Plate design to be determined.


 * April 1, 2020 – future
 * TBD
 * TBD
 * ABC-1234
 * TBD
 * Plate design to be determined.

--108.53.232.130 (talk) 19:36, 2 September 2019 (UTC)


 * Pictogram voting comment.svg Note: The article has already been updated with further information since this request was made. In addition, the source you wish to have added, has been added. Thanks, NiciVampireHeart 23:00, 12 September 2019 (UTC)

New Plates
I doubt they're going automatically to skip to KAA when the new plates are distributed. If the J series nears the end, they'll probably do it. If not they'll skip the to next second letter. In the case of the golden series, the E series was up to EYH so they jumped to F.108.53.232.130 (talk) 15:08, 2 September 2019 (UTC)

New Plates available
https://dmv.ny.gov/plates/dmv-announces-winning-design-license-plate-survey — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.164.80.55 (talk) 14:49, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Due to the current plague the issuance of the new Excelsior plates has been postponed. Shim119 (talk) 12:40, 4 June 2020 (UTC)
 * They're on the road now (but not yet in every county). And as expected, the first passenger serials are in the 'K' series. Looks like Commercial serials are starting from 10000-NA, too. Klondike53226 (talk) 16:43, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion: You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 00:53, 25 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Plate of New York 2020.png

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 * New York License Plate jpg..jpg

Banner Image of New York Veh Plate
Has No one else noticed that the alphabetic portion of the "Banner Image" at the top of this Wiki section is of a modern plate bearing the letters "KKK"--the World-Infamous acronym for the Loathsome hooded Hate Group the Ku Klux Klan.

The KKK was founded by Confederate 'Veterans' (Losers) in the immediately Post-Civil-War South, to Terrorize & Intimidate Black men & women from seeking the protections & Rights granted to them by Emancipation and Union "Reconstruction". 2603:8001:9500:9EB7:AC63:3ADB:DF7D:12E3 (talk) 04:23, 26 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Continuing on from this, I have changed the plate back to the [[File:NY excelsior plate.png]] version as the [[File:New York License Plate.jpg]] isn't a valid plate seeing as KKK is on the NYC banned plates list. — NZFC  (talk) (cont)  00:38, 10 May 2022 (UTC)

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 * NY excelsior plate.png
 * NY2007Plate.jpg
 * Ny-historical.jpg
 * Ny2011dealer.jpg

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 * Apportioned NY.jpg
 * NY Bus 2020.jpg
 * NY Excelsior Trailer Plate.jpg
 * NY School 2020.jpg
 * NY Tractor plate.jpg
 * NY Transporter Plate 2006.jpg

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