Here's the scoop, as best I can figure it out. The police will not pull you over just because you have an out-of-state plate on your car. You need to commit a traffic violation. If your destination is in the state, you might have trouble registering at a hotel if you're from a state on the list. You should check with your hotel in advance. If you're just passing through New York to another state, they won't interfere with you.
The travel ban order says that if you're entering New York from a state that's on the bad list, you need to fill out an on-line form first. The form requires you to give the state a contact number where they can call or text you to check up on you! When you get to your in-state destination, you're supposed to quarantine. If you will be in the state for more than two weeks, you will have to quarantine for the first 14 days. If you're going to be in New York for less than two weeks, you will need to quarantine the whole time you're in the state.
The most effective enforcement is at the airports, where they'll require you to fill out the travel ban form. They have no way to make you fill out the form if you're driving. However, if you're questioned, you might be asked to show a screen shot of your form.
My plan is to go to my event in New York. Your circumstances may differ, but I'll be driving from Virginia to a destination in the Syracuse area. I'll gas up one last time in Pennsylvania, then keep going until I'm at the hotel. The room is registered in the name of a New York resident who will be staying with me, so it isn't a phony registration. I'll park my car, with its Virginia plate, and stay away from it until I'm ready to drive home. A friend with New York plates will drive me around while I'm there. I'll probably fill out the on-line form before I leave Virginia. I'll practice social distancing, wear a mask and do all the other responsible things while I'm in New York.
So, I won't be in strict compliance with Emperor Cuomo's order. I'll need to stay away from my car because of snitches, although the upstaters are fed up with Cuomo and snitches might be thin on the ground.
I just can't accept that Cuomo, using some arbitrary algorithm, can decide from day to day who can and cannot enter his state. Virginia is in good shape with the pandemic: it isn't like Florida or Texas. It just went on the list this week and when new numbers are reported, it probably will come off the list. In the meantime, I'll evade this stupid edict. Good luck!
That’s a good plan.
But it’s a damn shame that American citizens can no longer travel freely among the states.
Good thoughts. I might fill out the form, give them a NY number and view that as good faith compliance. We are staying at a cabin on a lake, with very few others around.