MAN RIGS LICENSE PLATE TO DISAPPEAR AND AVOID PAYING TOLL

I wish I can do this with my wife.

Now you see it, now you don't.

A Queens truck driver took a move from the magician's playbook, making his license plate seemingly disappear as he drove through a toll plaza without paying the $40 fee, the Port Authority said Wednesday.

Orlando Payano's tractor-trailer had a cable running from the license plate to the dashboard cigarette lighter when PA police stopped it recently on the Staten Island side of the Goethals Bridge, authority spokesman Steve Coleman said.

A tug on the lighter flipped the plate underneath the big rig's belly - and beyond the range of surveillance cameras used to identify toll-beaters, officials said.

"This is probably the most unusual thing we've seen," Coleman said.

PA police charged Payano, 30, of South Ozone Park, with toll evasion and license plate destruction. The rear license plate was bent, partially concealing its markings, Coleman said.

Reached on the road in Buffalo Wednesday night, Payano said he was mystified by the charges and may retain a lawyer to try to quash them. He insisted his truck has an E-ZPass tag.