State cites repair shops for falsifying inspections

State officials have cited 40 auto inspection facilities, including seven on Long Island, for allegedly issuing more than 20,000 inspection stickers for cars in 2008 and 2009 without testing their exhaust emissions.

The Long Island businesses that could be reached Thursday denied wrongdoing.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Motor Vehicles charged that the downstate shops attached state-approved inspection equipment to electronic devices that simulate inspections, thereby providing fake data to DMV computers. A spokesman for the environmental conservation department, Yancey Roy, said these were the first notices ever issued for employing electronic simulation devices to enable cars to pass inspections.

Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis said in a statement. "Falsifying inspections is not only illegal but also keeps potentially polluting cars and trucks on the road, undermining the health of New Yorkers."

The shops cited included 27 in the Bronx, four in Manhattan, four in Suffolk, three in Nassau and one each in Westchester and Brooklyn. The motor vehicles department says there are 16,000 registered auto repair shops in the state and about 10.7 million registered motor vehicles.

The shops face fines ranging from $375 to $15,000 for the first offense and up to $22,500 for each ensuing offense. They have until March 10 to answer the charges.

Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the 3,500-member Gasoline & Automotive Service Dealers Association, said cars' computers sometimes are not ready to send a signal to the test equipment and that it can take hours, even days, to get them ready. "Sometimes when they can't get an inspection machine to pass the car, the inspection station panics and takes extraordinary measures," he said.

At one of the Long Island shops, in Bay Shore, owner Russell Ricciardi said he was unaware of any violation issued to him, adding, "I have done nothing wrong. We're as legal as you can get."

At C & C Shell in Brentwood, owner Bruno Valenzuela said he did nothing illegal and plans to fight the charge. "This is not over," he said.

At Suffolk Auto Service Inc. in Central Islip, owner Edgar Garcia declined to comment. At Cross Fire Auto Service in New Hyde Park, owner Mike Guerra said, "We didn't do anything illegal."

There was no answer at the number listed for Hempstead Auto Repair in Hempstead. The number listed for Zeltco Auto Repair in Roosevelt wasn't working. A woman answering the phone at Amaya Repairs in Brentwood said the owner was "busy" and hung up.