Miscellaneous Debris

Cars with Iowa license plates have taken over Brooklyn, New York.

That is all.





Residents in one Brooklyn neighborhood were upset they could not find street parking, so they complained — and that triggered a multi-state investigation.

So CBS 2 investigative reporter Tamara Leitner tried to solve the mystery of the Iowa license plates Friday.

Residents in the Ditmas Park West neighborhood said it’s impossible to find a parking spot.

“You have to move your car onto the street. You can’t find anything,” resident Marvin Fink said.

The reason is all of the cars with Iowa plates.

“There’s so many of them,” resident Joel Siegel said.
 

The answer seems to be tied to a rental car company, but it is illegal to register a car in one state and use it another.  Iowa and New York are both investigating the problem.

Leitner found a number of the cars with Iowa plates, and they all had the same rental car sticker on them. So she went to the nearest rental car business with a hidden camera.

She asked if any cars were available and was directed across the street to a small lot, where every single car had an Iowa plate.

An employee later led Leitner off the lot and out into the neighborhood to see a Dodge Caravan. It also had Iowa plates.

Leitner: “Why do all the cars have Iowa license plates?”

Employee: “The company we had had Iowa, New Jersey, New York, so now we have only Iowa.”

Leitner: “None of them have New York license plates.”

Employee: “That’s no problem.”

Leitner went back into the rental office and identified herself, hoping to ask some questions.

Leitner: “I’m just wondering, why do all of your cars have Iowa license plates?”

Female employee: “I’m calling the police.”