"in New York it is illegal to have a police scanner in a vehicle even if the radio is not connected or turned on."
It's a legal grey area and hasn't been tested in court.
The law does state that no non- licensed, but it leaves out the fact that police agencies do broadcast in the public domain [not a scanner]. May still not want to be the test case, but probably would win in court as the law is vague.
http://www.fordyce.org/scanning/scanning_info/nyslaw.htm
Some legal research indicates that NY's law is only if driving.
https://www.zipscanners.com/resources/are-police-scanners-legal/
https://www.lifewire.com/are-radio-scanner-apps-illegal-534495
Below is a police forums response/ discussion about scanners usage in cars in general and "legalities"....
https://forum.officer.com/forum/pub...ful-use-of-mobile-police-scanners-in-new-york
Federal law PR 91-36 (FCC 93-410) preempts state laws restricting the use of radios capable of receiving police frequencies in an amateur radio operators "station" A amateur radio operator's station can be stationary or mobile.
Technically the federal law allows an amateur radio operator to run a police scanner in a vehicle in New York. This has not been "tested" in the courts since 1978 when PR 91-36 (FCC 93-410) was not in existance.
In
People v. McGee, (1978) the OLD law was found to NOT be preempted by the federal law
If
I was using a mobile police scanner in NYS...............I would carry a copy of
397. EQUIPPING MOTOR VEHICLES WITH RADIO RECEIVING SETS CAPABLE OF RECEIVING SIGNALS ON THE FREQUENCIES ALLOCATED FOR POLICE USE.
AND
a copy of my Amateur radio license and hope the officer could read.
I would be prepared to go to court with the same documents to show to the judge
I ALWAYS have amateur radio frequencies programmed into my scanners in order to make them part of my AMATEUR STATION