70 Vanity Plates That New York Said No to Last Year

From saucy to odd to just plain rude, there were nearly 2,000 vanity license plate requests from residents that New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles nixed last year.

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According to Project WNYC, before a vanity license plate is approved, it is checked against the Red Guide, a list “of banned license plate configurations maintained by the New York DMV.” Then, even if a license plate is not in the Red Guide, it can still be rejected for a variety of reasons.

New York puts its foot down when it comes to plates that represent a word, phrase, or expression that has a meaning, connotation, or format that the commissioner feels is objectionable, carries some reference to genitalia, bathroom habits, is violent or derogatory, contemptuous, degrading, disrespectful or inflammatory. Also not allowed by New York are vanity license plates that could constitute copyright infringement.

SEE ALSO: 10 New York State License Plate Laws You Need To Know About

Authorities need to be able to read a license plate at a distance quickly, so this is taken into account when deciding whether or not to allow a vanity request.  Also, some numbers cannot be used in place of letters because it can be confusing. For instance, an O in place of a zero is not allowed.

If you’re considering requesting a vanity license plate, keep in mind that vanity plates generally cost $60.00, to begin with, and then each year, the annual fee is around $31.00. Vanity plates for motorcycles are a bit cheaper starting at $35 initially and then around $19 annually.