Here's How to Spot NYPD's Fleet of Undercover Taxi Cabs

Herman Yung from Dooby Brain compiled this great list of tips on how to spot one of the NYPD's fake taxis when out and about. He used data from a few New York State Freedom of Information Law requests made by Matthew Guariglia from Muckrock.

1. Look for a missing center divider. Undercover NYPD taxi cabs don't normally have the plastic divider separating the backseats from the front seat.
2. Disconnected or fake meter. It's just for show and on some of these vehicles, the meter is missing completely from the dashboard.
3. Grey bumpers. This one used to be an easy tell, but nowadays the vehicles have been updated to sport the regular yellow bumper.
4. Extra black side skirts. This is another trait that has slowly been phased out since it made it too easy to spot to those on the lookout.
5. A computer in the front seat. If you can get close enough, look for the NYPD computer mounted in the center console area in the front seat.
6. 2W and 6Y. This is probably the easiest way to tell. All of the undercover taxis sport a license number starting with 2W and 6Y (important note: Not all vehicles starting with these characters are undercover).