ALBANY – The controversial plan to force New York motorists to replace older license plates will not move ahead as planned, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration.

For more than two weeks, Cuomo and the head of the Department of Motor Vehicles had suggested they were open to scaling back their original plan, which would have required all drivers with decade-old plates to purchase new ones for $25 — even if they remain in good condition.

But on Tuesday, Cuomo's administration was more explicit: The license plate plan would not going ahead as originally planned.

The mandate had been set to go into effect in April.

“As the DMV commissioner said weeks ago, this proposal isn’t going forward as we have committed to working with the Legislature to create a plan that ensures plates are readable by law enforcement and cashless tolling systems and creates a process where plates older than 10 years are inspected and, if still readable, can be kept," Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo's senior adviser and spokesman, said in a statement.

Poll shows plate plan is unpopular

Azzopardi issued his statement in response to a Siena College poll that showed the license-plate mandate was deeply unpopular in New York.

The poll Tuesday showed that New Yorkers by a 60% to 31% margin opposed the requirement that drivers to turn in their license plates when they are 10 years old.

And 75% of voters said the $25 license replacement fee is unfair, the Siena College poll found.

“New Yorkers of every stripe — regardless of party, region, gender, race, or age —oppose the new requirement to surrender license plates that are at least a decade old for newly designed state license plates," poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said.

"Opposition is smaller with Democrats, New York City voters, and black, Latino and younger voters, however, a majority or plurality of each of those groups oppose this new requirement on motorists.”

Controversy dates back to August

The controversy surrounding the license plates dates back to last month, when Cuomo's administration launched an online vote to determine a new plate design that will launch in April.

As part of that announcement, the state also announced it would require drivers to turn in their older plates and buy new ones in order to ensure they remain readable by cashless-tolling cameras.

The new plates cost $25, plus another $20 if the motorist wanted to keep their number.

New York has committed to expanding cashless tolling — which relies on cameras to snap photos of license plates before billing motorists by mail — to the entire Thruway system next year.

After lawmakers of both parties spoke out against the plan, DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder said Aug. 29 he would be open to scaling it back. But he stopped short of committing to doing so, saying there was time to "explore alternatives" since the plan wasn't set to go into effect until April.

What do New Yorkers think?

Soon after Cuomo announced that New Yorkers could vote on the next license plate design and said old ones would need to be replaced, state lawmakers ripped the plan.

Opponents, particularly Republican legislators, said the $25 is exorbitant because inmates at a upstate prison make the licenses at little cost.

The state estimates there are 3 million plates 10 years or older, so the new fee could bring in $75 million for the state's coffers as they're replaced over two years.

The Democratic governor said new license plates are needed because the old ones are fading, new cashless tolls using license plate readers are coming to the state Thruway next year and the fee will cover the state's costs.

He said the Legislature approved the $25 fee in 2009, though that fee is the maximum — not the minimum — the DMV is allowed to charge under the law.

"How can you be shocked and amazed?" Cuomo last month told reporters about state lawmakers. "Why don't you read the laws that you pass? So it's disingenuous for anyone to say, 'I'm amazed the plates cost $25.' It's been that price for over a decade, before I was governor."

The Siena poll showed the $25 fee irked the public even more than the replacement requirement.

“When it comes to the $25 license replacement fee, New Yorkers are even more united in their opposition," Greenberg said.

"At least two-thirds of voters from every party, region, gender, race, or age group say the $25 license replacement fee is unfair. Bottom line message from voters to state: NO2PL8FEE,” Greenberg said.

In his statement, Azzopardi suggested Siena was relying on old information.

"Why Siena would spend its time polling outdated information is beyond me," he said.

New York Republican Chair Nick Langworthy called the backtracking a victory for the Republican Party.

"It shouldn’t take a poll to tell the governor what is blatantly apparent: New Yorkers are fed up with Albany Democrats incessantly hitting them with new taxes and fees to support their insatiable appetite for spending," Langworthy said in a statement.

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What happens next?

Earlier this month, the state announced the winning plate design was one that has iconic images from across New York, including the Statue of Liberty and Niagara Falls.

“Surprisingly, 40 percent of New Yorkers say they were aware of the late summer online poll to select the new license plate design, and 10 percent say they voted online to choose the new design," Greenberg said.

The Siena poll was conducted Sept. 8-12 to 798 New York registered voters. It had a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.

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