Renewing New York State license plates online gives drivers a clear visual of their options for the appearance of the new plates. Keep the old number and blue and white plate ($130), opt for the new gold plates with a new number (add $25) or go for the gold but keep your old alpha-numeric string (add $45). I like the gold plates; the stark simplicity is more appealing than the fussy landscape trying to add some interest at the top of the former design. The “new” look is a throwback to NYS tags from the 1970’s, when I learned to drive, though the first license plate with a gold background debuted in 1962. My dad always held on to one plate for his collection hanging on the garage wall, and told the DMV he lost the other when it was time to exchange old plates for new.
I was surprised that I was willing to pay a little more for nostalgia, because mostly I agree with Diana Vreeland: I loathe nostalgia. In that case, why not keep the old plate number while I’m at it? Hardly a momentous decision but it was past midnight and I was already tired of thinking about the whole thing so I flipped a coin and allowed random chance to make the decision. It came down heavily on the side of nostalgia: gold plate, old number.
I finalized the transaction, then savored the Dept. of Motor Vehicle’s automatically-generated email response, below. Why should email be any different than actually going to the DMV, where you also will not receive a response? Some experiences generate no nostalgia at all.
