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New York City’s highways have suddenly become hot spots for panhandlers willing to risk their lives dodging oncoming traffic to make a fast buck.

Over the past week, Post reporters spotted down-and-out daredevils pleading for cash from motorists in the heart of bustling roadways – including the Harlem River Drive and FDR Drive in Manhattan, and the Major Deegan Expressway in The Bronx.

Meanwhile, the NYPD appears to be doing little to curb the illegal foot traffic – which typically takes place during the evening rush when traffic is bumper-to-bumper and there’s less concern of vagrants getting slammed by speeding vehicles.

Some motorists say they’ve recently witnessed police cars ride by the brazen beggars, without flashing a siren, offering them assistance or even just ordering them off the road.

While panhandlers – including notorious “squeegee men” aggressively wiping windshields — have long tried to hustle cash from drivers at busy intersections on city streets, some city workers and other commuters say they’ve noticed a new phenomenon over the past few months: swarms of beggars on Big Apple highways dangerously exposed to oncoming vehicles.

“Laws just don’t matter anymore,” fumed crime-fighting Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who says he’s watched cops four times in the last three months drive by panhandlers on both sides of the FDR Drive in Lower Manhattan without taking action.

“In the past, highway patrol [cops] would’ve shut this down immediately, but it’s just another example that you can do anything now in New York City — and no one will stop you,” the former Republican mayoral candidate barked.

On Thursday afternoon, The Post watched a woman dressed in dirty sweatpants, a loose T-shirt, and bubblegum-pink clogs toss a grimy Target canvas tote bag over a graffiti-laden concrete barrier and onto the southbound section of the Harlem River Drive near East 131st Street.

The 28-year-old woman, who called herself “Jasmine,” then nimbly climbed over the barrier herself before arriving at work — the middle of four highway lanes. Holding a large, dark-brown coffee cup, Jasmine stood straight, mumbling to herself while staring down cars that slowly creeped by, while begging for spare cash.

Several drivers and passengers rolled down their windows, giving her a handful of dollar bills over a 15-minute period – just enough cash for her to head out and buy a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at a nearby eatery.

When asked later by a reporter if she was concerned for her safety, Jasmine teared up.

“This is very safe, see how it’s going very slow?” she said of the traffic.

Jasmine returns regularly to the same location because she’s had financial success there — and without being routinely hassled by authorities, she said.

One regular Harlem River Drive motorist showed The Post photos he took a week earlier, of Jasmine clenching a paper cup with both hands in the middle of the roadway — while a NYPD vehicle drove right by her without stopping.

The same shutterbug also shared photos snapped Wednesday of people panhandling and selling water and fruit along the FDR Drive and Major Deegan Expressway. In one shot, a middle-aged man was photographed hunching over a walker, pleading with drivers for cash while navigating through heavy traffic along the Willis Avenue Bridge connection to the Major Deegan.

Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) said he hopes Mayor Eric Adams’ administration cracks down on the daredevil panhandlers but isn’t surprised by this sudden surge considering the “atmosphere of lawlessness that has enveloped our city.”

“It’s not only illegal, but very dangerous,” he said. “There’s nothing compassionate about letting people do this. Both the panhandlers and motorists are in danger.”

Both the Mayor’s Office and the NYPD issued statements saying panhandling in traffic is both dangerous and illegal — and that New Yorkers should report such activity by calling 311. However, neither offered explanations of why cops are driving by panhandlers on highways without at least stopping to help get them to safety.

An NYPD spokesperson instead said the agency is “aware” of an influx in panhandlers suddenly working highways, adding the department’s “goal is not to summons or arrest our way out of this issue but rather to gain voluntary compliance and, when an individual is encountered, offer to connect those in need with the appropriate city services.”

Sliwa, however, said he expects highway panhandling to only get worse because it’s likely more lucrative than street-side begging – and authorities aren’t cracking down on it.

“The [panhandlers] are taking major risks walking a high-wire act in the middle of highways like they’re part of The [Flying] Wallendas,” he said.